| Author | Content |
twiggybuds
Moss Point, MS
(Zone 8b)
July 04, 2009
11:39 AM Post #6776734
| As I have long suspected, here is an article describing the tricks played by food producers, processors and the USDA. Another case of good intentions gone awry. IMHO, the Organic Certification is already meaningless.
"People are really hung up on regulations," said Smillie, who is also vice president of the certifying firm Quality Assurance International, which is involved in certifying 65 percent of organic products found on supermarket shelves. "I say, 'Let's find a way to bend that one, because it's not important.' . . . What are we selling? Are we selling health food? No. Consumers, they expect organic food to be growing in a greenhouse on Pluto. Hello? We live in a polluted world. It isn't pure. We are doing the best we can."
I would encourage anyone that regularly purchases organic food to read this article carefully.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31719136/ns/health-more_health_n...
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gloria125
Greensboro, AL
July 04, 2009
01:16 PM Post #6777085
| This is one whole area that really needs major oversight that it is not now getting. It is getting harder and harder to find healthy food in the chain food markets and there is more and more stuff claiming to be health-promoting when its not. Especially in the processed boxed cereals department.
If the term 'organic' is to have any meaning the food should conform to the simple standards in a basic definition - no matter how many employees the agency may have. |
twiggybuds
Moss Point, MS
(Zone 8b)
July 04, 2009
01:58 PM Post #6777213
| Maybe I'm just ignorant or naive. It's things like this that make me wonder if I'm tripping or flipping. At this rate, we need to drop the words "black" and "white" from our language because nothing qualifies as either and they'll soon be used interchangeably.
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gloria125
Greensboro, AL
July 04, 2009
02:07 PM Post #6777247
| i bet if you cared to make a study most "promotion" labels are basically meaningless. They are meant to appeal to emotions - not to provide information.
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lizards_keep
Colmesneil, TX
(Zone 8b)
July 05, 2009
05:31 AM Post #6779464
| This is why I promote the “Backyard Survival Garden”. You grow it ...You know it’s safe. Plus it tastes better. |
gloria125
Greensboro, AL
July 06, 2009
09:32 AM Post #6784025
| Of course most people here are gardeners. But you can't grow everything and there is something demoralizing about going in to the local grocery and realizing most of what is offered there is promoted with lies and deception. I think most people want to trust that if something is Government inspected - then it is what it claims to be. |
DiggerDee
Ffld County, CT
(Zone 6b)
July 06, 2009
02:02 PM Post #6785233
| I agree completely, Gloria. There are just some things you can't grow, and even if one could, we don't all live on enough land to support ourselves. It is indeed very demoralizing when you really think about the so-called food out there, and how almost everything is (over?)processed in some way - and it doesn't always need to be. It's getting so I really question every thing that goes onto my plate - not to mention onto my body and in my hair, etc. (And then everyone in my family thinks I'm nuts, lol.)
It would be nice to be able to trust the certified organic label. If you can't, what CAN you do? You certainly can't trust the producers of that food, for the most part. Yes, very demoralizing indeed. |
garden_mermaid
San Francisco Bay Ar, CA
(Zone 9b)
July 06, 2009
03:57 PM Post #6785635
| Digger, what you *can* do is to research the label and the growers/farmers behind it.
For example, you don't have to buy flour from Pillsbury or GeneralMills. There are independent grain farmers.
Network with your local Localvore, SlowFood, HighBrix or other food groups. Many of these groups will organize group field trips to the farms to discuss how the food is produced.
Check the LocalHarvest.org site to find who produces those other food items. If there are enough people in your area that are interested, you may be able to form or join a food buying co-op or club that will allow you to buy sufficient quantity to bring the foods you want to your area. |
David_Paul
Clinton, CT
(Zone 6b)
July 09, 2009
07:58 AM Post #6796908
| It is a given that rent seeking corporations will lobby for so many hoops to jump through to be "organic" that eventually they will dominate the field and the field won't be what "organic" was designed to be.
Watch for them to also try to force bulk buyers (government sponsored entities first) to buy their product. In my area we are seeing family farms who are not organic (but whose produce I believe is excellent) denied a spot at a farmer's market in favor of an "organic" operation which has the $$$ small guys don't.
Fast food chain restaurants knocked out many small operations this way. Always in a good cause too. Difficult for politicians to vote or individuals to argue against regulations which are framed as enhancing food quality or protecting the public.
This message was edited Jul 9, 2009 8:02 AM |
gloria125
Greensboro, AL
July 09, 2009
08:10 AM Post #6796948
| Recently a new Walmart Superstore was opened near here. A produce department worker told me they would emphasize "organic foods". The quality is usually far less than a food store down the road using local suppliers which was recently forced out of business. |
greenhouse_gal
Port Elizabeth, NJ
(Zone 7a)
July 16, 2009
07:31 AM Post #6825760
| The only problem with the locals is that they often use all the pesticides and herbicides we're trying to stay away from. I would love to buy local but am concerned about chemicals! |
twiggybuds
Moss Point, MS
(Zone 8b)
July 16, 2009
02:53 PM Post #6827329
| Good point Leslie. I had to use BT, neem, pyrethrin and soap to get my tomatoes, peppers and squash. I have never been heavy handed with poison but I had to see to believe that these organics worked. I know I had to spray a lot more often than if I'd used something more toxic. I really can't imagine any commercial operation putting in the extra labor unless they can charge more. This price difference will further divide the haves and the have nots.
There's also the matter of many backyard gardeners and small producers aren't educated in the handling and consequences of all those toxic chemicals available everywhere. They have labels but I don't think the average person pays a lot of attention.
It seems to me that the Organic Label is wide open with loopholes. The whole thing depends on integrity at all levels and, anytime $ is involved, there's always corruption. It's gotten to the point that any purchased food is a gamble or a huge leap of faith.
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gloria125
Greensboro, AL
July 16, 2009
03:34 PM Post #6827500
| In Alabama there is a license for commercial pesticides. It is supposed to insure that the user can read.
And there are a whole lot of people in Alabama who cannot read - it is amazing that people can actually get through life in a state of illiteracy but they do it. In the grocery store they will ask someone to read the label for them. Are these green beans? |
garden_mermaid
San Francisco Bay Ar, CA
(Zone 9b)
July 16, 2009
10:24 PM Post #6829064
| We have a number of local organic farms that can no longer use the term "organic" because they did not renew the certificate due to the high cost. They are still growing with out the chemicals, the same way they did when they were certified.
This where is it is good to get to know the grower and talk to them about how they grow their produce. |
greenhouse_gal
Port Elizabeth, NJ
(Zone 7a)
July 17, 2009
06:45 AM Post #6829862
| Absolutely; I don't care about certification, just what actually goes on in the field. I know a blueberry farmer who is working on his organic certification for part of his crop, and I've been buying his berries by the flat from the fields that aren't sprayed but aren't yet certified for the program. They're cheaper and as far as I'm concerned they're almost as good! |
twiggybuds
Moss Point, MS
(Zone 8b)
July 17, 2009
03:32 PM Post #6831577
| Indy just posted this site on the veg forum. I haven't had time to study it but it looks pertinent and possibly useful in general. It's a table of USDA test results for various pesticide residues in conventional and organic produce.
http://www.whatsonmyfood.org/index.jsp
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lizards_keep
Colmesneil, TX
(Zone 8b)
July 18, 2009
07:36 PM Post #6835928
| Greenhouse_Gal and GM have the right idea. You have to certify your own food by either finding a local grower that “You” can inspect or growing it yourself.
If you don’t trust the government to start with … the organic certification label is just dust in the wind.
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Hastur
Houston, TX
July 21, 2009
09:12 AM Post #6845713
| I think it was Michael Pollan who summed up the food hype: If a food is advertising how good it is for you, it probably isn't. I believe it was his "Silence of the Yams" article where this was said.
Here we go: "Because a health claim on a food product is a good indication that it’s not really food, and food is what you want to eat." http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t...
I paraphrased, of course, but it's amazing what kind of a shift in thinking that simple rule is. I walk into the store and see a ton of things that advertise that they are "fortified with ten essential vitamins" - and wonder why they need to be fortified in the first place. Looking at simple tomato soup (contains extra anti-oxidants!), I turn it over to see that HFCS is the second ingredient on the label. How about cheese? (With extra calcium for strong bones!) I'm not so sure - doesn't Kraft use milk from CAFO cows?
And yet, many of these same foods will use phrases like "all natural" or "made with natural ingredients".
I think I'll stick with stuff that I at least have a chance of recognizing. |
garden_mermaid
San Francisco Bay Ar, CA
(Zone 9b)
July 21, 2009
03:22 PM Post #6847139
| I think many, if not most, of the large multinational cheese makers are buying separated milk components (like dried milk and whey and milk protein concentrate) and recombining these to make at least some of their cheeses these days. Many milk processors pool the milk of CAFOs and non-CAFOs into one large mixture.
A radio program recently mentioned that some states have blocked the screening of the documentaries "Food Inc" and "Fresh" by using their "veggie libel laws" and are trying to have these films pulled in all states. Not sure how they can do that. Anyone heard anything on this?
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Hastur
Houston, TX
July 23, 2009
10:16 AM Post #6854823
| I would be curious too. And I would love to find out what are Veggie Libel Laws.
*wanders off to brave the wilds of Google*
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lizards_keep
Colmesneil, TX
(Zone 8b)
July 24, 2009
03:23 AM Post #6858307
| Kind of goes hand in hand with the lemon beverage that is artificially flavored verses the jug of furniture polish made with real lemon.
I wonder … can the lemon producers sue you for complaining to someone about the artificially flavored lemon drink that caused your near death experience? Guess that would be a vicarious veggie libel issue.
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darius
So.Appalachian Mtns, VA
(Zone 5b)
July 24, 2009
02:38 PM Post #6860128
| Food Disparagement laws exist in something like 13 states. You must have deep pockets to fight that kind of lawsuit.
http://tinyurl.com/nzc3b2
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Indy
Alexandria, IN
(Zone 5b)
July 24, 2009
03:18 PM Post #6860275
| Speaking of fortifing with vitamins, minerals, and such...Typically they will use the cheaper and less absorbible forms. Take vitamin D...Your body uses the D3 form, but likely they will use D2. Vitamin E is another example. When media blurbs crow about vitamin E not doing this or that,[YES!!!] likely they will use alpha dl E...synthetic and only one part of an eight part complex!!!!! With ignorance and malice like that ...heaven help us. |
garden_mermaid
San Francisco Bay Ar, CA
(Zone 9b)
July 24, 2009
04:39 PM Post #6860551
| Deep grass roots may help minimize the need for deep pockets.
It will be interesting to see how the battle between WFM and UNFI and the OCA fares. |
