Organic Hype

Ah, Penn & Teller's Bull S*** last night was on this.

http://www.sho.com/site/ptbs/episodes.do?episodeid=133985&ep=706

They refute the things the e-mailer states. The organic industry is made up of large companies, they use older, more dangerous pesticides and all animal products have hormones organic or not.

The DDT and Diazinon have messed with your brain! Are you actually asking me to believe that pesticides, herbicides and fungicides that can liquify invertebrates, have NO impact on human cells? That synthetic fertizilers poured, sprayed, spread on our food sources just disappear from the food, soil and nearby water sources? How do you explain the high levels of these in fish? Why is autism at an all time high? Why do more children have ADHD now, than ever before? Why are my children's friends deathly allergic to soy and wheat and nuts and red dye, like never before in history? Are you serious?

Actually cancer rates are much higher than they used to be say 100 years ago. The healthiest diets in the world are in the Middle East and Japan where raw and unprocessed foods abound. The nutrient content of organic food is also more diverse since the biodiversity of crops in developed countries such as ours have weeded out may varieties with certain gmo varieties. The pesticides and herbicides do mess with your body as well. This is a no brainer. People live longer because modern medicine allows them to. This isn't to say the last 20 or so years are enjoyable for most people. On the contrary most fight many ailments, most of which are due to what they consume. One thing that does bother me with the organic industry is the lax standards for organic qualification. That is why I grow as many things myself. Give me an apple with a little wiggly protein over one that is sprayed with a toxic soup.

John, the food that is organic is probably a bit more nutritious, but the real reason people eat organic is to avoid pesticides, herbicides, and growth hormones, as well as environmental protection reasons. To question these motives is to look foolish.

LOL @ Huh. The right has birthers and truthers, while the left has eaters and drivers?

Angela - I can't figure out if I am left or right. Probably a libertarian.

sounds like John Stossel is ready for a challenge.

John, you write, "there’s no good evidence that residues of hormones, antibiotics, pesticides and chemical fertilizers in food hurt anyone either. We keep consuming more of them, and yet we living longer, and spending more years cancer-free."

I say put your money where your mouth is.

I imagine it has to do with ad-revenue, but you skillfully dance around the edges of setting up a cause and effect relationship between pesticide/chemical consumption and healthy, cancer-free living.

So, do it, go to a pesticide-heavy, hormone-infused, antibiotic-stuffed diet.

Please.

Your legions of loyal fans would LOVE it if you would take upon yourself to show that just because such-and-such chemical was designed to kill biological organisms, doesn't mean that it will hurt their children.

There is a growing body of research that suggests that there are many negative health implications associated with exposure to toxic and persistent pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, antibiotics and growth hormones. There is also mounting evidence that organically grown fruits, vegetables and grains may offer more of some nutrients, including vitamin C, iron, magnesium and phosphorus, and less exposure to nitrates and pesticide residues than their counterparts grown using synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.

Such studies speak clearly to the personal health benefits of choosing organic, but only tell part of the organic story. The benefits of organic agriculture and production are much broader than personal health in general and nutritional content specifically. Any time a consumer buys an organic product, whether food or non-food, s/he is supporting a system of sustainable agricultural management that promotes soil health and fertility, fosters species diversity, helps combat climate change, prevents damage to valuable water resources, and protects farmers and farmers’ families from exposure to harmful chemicals. In turn, this benefits the health of the planet and those who live on it.

John - You are usually spot-on with your assessments but you have lost me on this one. I am willing to accept that some foods which are labeled organic are probably far from it, but if a food truly is organic, it just seems obvious that it would be better received by our bodies. Where is my logic flawed?

I often agree with you John, but you've missed it this time. Pesticides are efficient killing chemicals engineered to be bad news for living things. Why do you think they banned DDT even at a time it was near impossible to get anything banned. Do you think that all other pesticides are benign? Even the conservative Consumer Reports Magazine cautions against consuming some sprayed produce.

Thank you so much, Mr. Stossel, for your voice of reason on this matter. I married a woman whose family runs apple orchards. The bogus Alar scare of 1989 basically destroyed their lives for many years.

Why can't people accept the truth? The comments here are incredible! People simply refuse to accept the scientific fact (proven by Dr. Bruce Ames of UC Berkely) that 99.99% of all the carcinogenic substances in your body are naturally occurring! Therefore, worrying about pesticide residue in your diet is DUMB.

Thinking that eating organic will lower your risk of cancer is like thinking reducing your daily caloric intake by .2 calories a day will cause you to lose weight. I think you should investigate the failure of our schools to give people the ability to comprehend really basic math.

THE ACTUAL REPORT DOWNPLAYED THE AUTHORS' OWN RESULTS THAT FAVORED ORGANIC FOOD!!!

Shame on you, John, for abdicating your investigative reporter duties and turning into a demagogue like every other talking head. Where is your integrity? Are you just lazy now and think "settled" issues from the past don't ever change?

http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20090730.110650&time=11%2029%20PDT&year=2009&public=1

"...synthetic fertizilers poured, sprayed, spread on our food sources just disappear from the food, soil and nearby water sources?"

You need to take a course in plant physiology and learn how a plant uses fertilizer. Use Google and learn how incorrect & silly that comment is. Runoff from organic fertilizers will pollute streams, rivers, and lakes just like "synthetic" fertilizers. There is a genuine risk to organically grown fresh produce that is greater than produce grown with all the "synthetic" fertilizers: Salmonella . Use Google again and check it out; it is all that manure used to grow those "healthy" organic veggies. As I recall salmonella germs are 3-6 times more likely to show up in "organic" veggies than all those nasty factory grown unhealthy veggies.

I always thought the organic movement had to do with not consuming the pesticides. That's why I'd eat them if they weren't so much more expensive. Now I have to spend all that time rinsing my apples, and dealing with the fact that I'm not as cool. Oh, to have disposable income so that I too may one day be a hipster...

As a former farmer, if people want to pay higher prices because the packaging on whatever says that whatever is hormone-free, pesticide-free, etc. then let them.

If other people are ok with eating stuff that the FDA is suitable for human consumption [meaning that anything using on it or in it won't hurt you], then leave them alone too.

"Buyer beware" still holds true. Me, I buy what's the best bang for the buck. No problems to date.

In 1850 people where much shorter, people lived much shorter lives, people died of all kinds every day illness. But they ate real organic food all the time!!! What changed. Our food got cleaned up and real, not organic medical advances took place!! Sooo give me a brake with the SNAKE OIL (I guess its fish oil now) Hype.

Well, I respectfully disagree here. I eat organic not because of the pesticides and fertilizers, not because of the nutritional value, but mainly because it is the only way here in the U.S. to guarantee that I am not eating genetically engineered food. Engineered to be healthier? More nutritious? No. Engineered to be resistant to pesticides manufactured by the same exact companies who patent these seeds. The vast majority of our wheat, corn, soy and more are GMOs. Veggies and fruits that are not genetically engineered are often coated in a wax made with GMO corn. Worst yet, there is no way we can prevent the spread of these crops once they are released. We have no idea what kind of impact this will have on our health or the environment. Here in the U.S., GMO foods are not labeled, so people don't realize that 80% of our food is genetically engineered at least in part. And for what? Profit for Monsanto, the company who came up with BGH; the company who got two Fox News reporters fired for trying to air factual information about the hormone and its effect on cows and humans. It's sick. This isn't some effort to make our food healthier. It's an effort to cut costs and increase profit for giant corporations, and it's at the expense of our health- a lot of scientists have expressed concerns about ingesting GMO foods.

I'm going to assume you haven't taken this into consideration as genetic engineering wasn't mentioned in the article. This is why I switched to organic. At first I was startled to find out I was consuming GMO foods every day without even realizing it. I have the feeling many Americans are in the same boat and have no clue what they are ingesting. Which is pretty sick. Monsanto truly will do anything to make a buck and they do not care at whose expense.

I agree with you on most stuff John, but the organic thing.. no. I challenge you to switch to organic for a month and see if you don't feel healthier.

Plus, the food just flat out tastes better.

Big corporations taking over our food supply? That is what it has come to. And, we all know that big corporations have only one thing in mind: $$$.