pyro-manic wrote:Well, that's your opinion karajorma, and you're entitled to it of course, but I disagree. I also disagree on the GMO thing, but that's another issue which I won't go into now. Personally, I'd rather eat something that hasn't been sprayed with anything (and yes, the source of the stuff I get at home is entirely free of pesticides, of any description. It gets planted, it grows, it gets dug up/picked, and delivered to the door) than eat factory-farmed stuff from a supermarket.
If you want to eat food completely free of any pesticides then that's fine. I reckon you're paying an enormous mark up for food that is to all intents and purposes the same as anything you could get at a conventional farm shop but it's your money and your choice. If you're willing to pay extra for freshness then that's all to the good but if I want freshness I'd rather pay less and get food that tastes exactly the same and is just as good for me.
People who are proponents of organic food need to realise that they are no different to people who are proponents of shopping at Asda rather than Tesco. It's a personal choice and nothing more. I defend your right to make that choice.
What they don't have the right to do is to lie about it. Claims that organic food is better for you are complete crap. Even if the levels of pesticides in conventional farming are dangerous (And there's not a jot of evidence to prove that it is) you have to balance that against the increase in food poisoning cases and the danger from molds and fungi that conventional methods keep under control.
And that's just with the organic farming that doesn't use "natural" pesticides. It might be worth pointing out that one of those chemicals has since been banned after it was noticed that it was actually a carcinogen. Great job! Convince people to give up the tried and tested pesticeds and get them to use one that definately gives you cancer and then tell them it's healthier!
Similarly claims that organic farming is better for the planet aren't just crap. They're rubbish because of crap. Or more specifically manure. That stuff washes off the fields into rivers and chokes them up due to the way it fertilises the growth of aquatic plants. Yes you can have that effect with non-organic fertilisers but the chemical companies that make them go to great lengths to prevent it precisely because farmers pay a lot of money for their chemicals and consider them going into the rivers a waste.
The same goes for farmers dumping sulphur on their fields.
The fact is that at the moment we're in a rather stupid backlash against science. People have decided that they aren't going to trust science and instead want to trust something else regardless of whether or not it's sensible or even good for them.
Want to know something else funny? For years people have been getting worried about E-numbers and artificial preservatives simply because they are chemicals. No research. No proof that any of them are bad for you. They're chemicals, Just look at that name. Antioxidants. That must be bad for you.
Then food scientists go around telling us that we should eat more tomatos and drink a glass of wine every day because they have anti-cancer and anti-heart disease properties due to the fact that both of those are good sources of antioxidants :rolleyes:
