There is something Organic in What I am about to Say!

OK, I am stepping on my Soapbox again and this time I have a few things to say about Organic anything... Although I am not a farmer or in the food industry in any way, I am a consumer and I attempt to educate myself where I can. I have been reading lately about Global Warming and reducing our Carbon Footprints everywhere we can. Whether or not I agree totally with the concerns of Global Warming, I see no harm in reducing my "carbon footprint" and saving certain resources for future use and be easier on my wallet. My salary is not keeping up with the cost of living which is going way up each day. There used to be some lag time, some time for adjustment. So, if in any way, I can do this to reduce the price I am paying at the GAS PUMP then whoa! I am getting on that train and riding it, so to speak. For example, Gasoline is $3.49 a gallon today....OK I gotta digress from topic for just a bit on the Gas issue....

No. 1, I have been reading things about how much Asians, Europeans, and Middle Easterners, etc...pay for gas by the liter and if you calculate it...sure, they are paying exorbitantly by the gallon. They say we have it lucky and should keep our mouths shut. Well, I am not one to shut my mouth. We don't have it so lucky and the cost of fuel ultimately leads to higher prices on everything because we get our goods through TRANSPORTATION. To get things TRANSPORTED you need gas to run the vehicles and if gas is going up so thus will the cost of goods and food. Worse yet many over-the-road Transport Drivers are not paid in equity of the rising gas prices and many will be forced out of the business, adding to your already expensive costs for food, clothes, anything you can imagine that has been TRANSPORTED to your area for you to consume. This is affecting both the rich and the poor and our disappearing middle-class. If fuel costs more for TRANSPORTATION authorities then they will pass the costs on to the consumers where they can.

2ND, No. 2, Asian and European cultures have mass-transit ideals built into their culture and they have smaller spaces to fill and they live closer together and don't live in large spaces to keep freezers full of food or pantries full of dry goods. They live daily because they have to or maybe want to. America is laid out broad and deep. Growing up, our nearest neighbor was a 1/4 mile away if not farther, on the next farm. In towns the grocery, hardware, restaurant, city hall or wal-mart is miles away from my house and there is no bus or subway train to get me to all those places there and back. I point out that in America, not everyone has everything within walking distance and America has not embraced the ideals of the Mass-Transit system. Not that we shouldn't and sure there are these opportunities in the Mega-Cities of New York and Chicago but I think there are very few other Mega Communities that have Mass Transit going everywhere all the time. Los Angeles, New Orleans, St Louis, Miami, Seattle, Kansas City, or Atlanta have bus systems and certain train or other mass transit but nothing that blankets the areas like I've seen in New York or Chicago. There are major gaps and one cannot get everywhere using these systems anywhere but NY. Certainly somewhere like Wichita, KS or Madisonville, LA may have mass transit systems of some kind but I bet I couldn't go from City Hall to wal-mart then over to the Pic-N-Sav and back home again. I bet towns that are big enough like that cannot accommodate transportation like they do in Europe or Asia. There are cabs and transport like that but have you ridden in a cab lately? The price to do that is exorbitant in the smaller communities other than New York or Chicago and they are pretty high at that but for those that have no transportation its a way of life, I suppose. The areas in these American towns and cities are just too spread out and the city father's did not ascertain in the beginnings that this would be a necessary avenue for the growing populations and the gaps remain and will not be filled anytime soon. Also, I am not willing to get on a bus or subway and share-the-ride yet myself. It would take me an extra hour or more to get to places and back again. Although I might be saving the planet, I want my freedom and my sleep more.

3rd, Where is all the oil anyway and why are refineries only producing at minimum levels? Why aren't our Congressmen and Congresswomen asking the hard questions and getting the hard answers? I don't want politically correct answers either. Plain simple answers only, please and...OK, I will digress back to topic about this Organic Food Ideals now...but in reality this is all related, don't kid yourself...anyway, I continue on topic.

I am sick of figuring out what's Organic and what is not. I am not a proponant of Organic Foods but I see no harm in something that is pesticide free...if that were the only issue. I am posting a recent article I read about the Myths of Organic Foods. It is as follows and this article is taken from an MSN Lifestyle Internet Post on 4-11-08. I know that you are thinking MSN is a liberal media outlet or something. That may be but I have several resources listed to cover the conservative and liberal viewpoints...

Myths About Organic Food
By Sarah Z. Wexler

All organics aren't created equal. Here's what's hidden behind the label.

MYTH #1: ORGANIC FOOD IS ALWAYS BETTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT.Organics don't contaminate soil and groundwater with pesticides and chemicals like regular farming does, but there's a surprising downside: Since organic farming is only about half as productive as conventional farming, it requires far more land to produce the same amount of food. Dennis Avery of the Hudson Institutes Center for Global Food Issues estimates that modern high-yield farming has saved 15 million square miles of wildlife habitat, and that if the world switched to organic farming, we'd need to cut down 10 million square miles of forest. Less-productive farming could also lead to even less food for the world's undernourished.

MYTH #2: IT'S MORE NUTRITIOUS. Studies keep flip-flopping on this: One found more vitamin C in organic tomatoes than in conventional ones; another found more cancer-fighting flavonoids in organic corn and strawberries. But other studies haven't found organics to have a nutritional edge. What makes the biggest difference in nutrients is how long produce sits on the shelf. Spinach, for instance, loses about half of its folate within a week.

MYTH #3: IT TASTES BETTER. Nobody has been able to tell the difference except in one study of apples, where organics came out ahead. To get raspberries that taste raspberrier, buy produce that's locally grown, is in season, and hasn't been sitting on the shelf too long. Let's face it: Nothing is at its best when it's flown halfway around the world and waxed, then has to spend a week in the grocery store.

MYTH #4: YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE AS CAREFUL ABOUT WASHING IT.All produce, whether purchased from a grocery mega chain or your local organic farm, is susceptible to nasty bacteria, such as E. coli (the news-maker that's also been known to kill people). Soil and runoff water that's contaminated with E. coli-harboring animal poop can get onto produce — particularly melons, lettuce, sprouts, tomatoes, spinach, and green onions, since they grow close to the ground. Your best defense: Wash everything thoroughly under running water.

MYTH #5: YOU'RE SUPPORTING SMALL FARMS OR ECO-COMPANIES. General Mills owns the Cascading Farms brand, Kraft owns Back to Nature and Boca Burger, and Kellogg's owns Morningstar Farms, to name a few conglomerates basking in organics' glow (and dough). And with such high demand (in the past year, the market for organic milk outstripped the supply by 10 percent), these giant companies are importing organic ingredients as cheaply as possible — often from other countries. Whole Foods sold roughly $1 billion in produce last year; only about 16 percent was locally grown. So with all the CO2 spent in transport, some organics have questionable eco-virtues.

MYTH #6: IT'S BETTER FOR YOU.Not if it's organic chips, organic soda, or organic cookies. Cane sugar is still sugar and fried chips are still fried, no matter what kind of compost was or wasn't heaped onto the potatoes. Sorry! WHAT IS GOOD ABOUT ORGANIC FOOD IT'S MORE HUMANE.Much of the country's organic milk and meat comes from small farms, where animals are often given more space to roam than those at larger factory farms. IT MAY REDUCE YOUR RISK OF GETTING MAD COW.Organic meat can't have any animal by-products in its feed, which is a primary contributor to mad-cow disease. IT'S GETTING EASIER.Companies like Kellogg's and Kraft are rolling out organic versions of their cereals and mac and cheese, so it's hassle-free to convince kids and boyfriends to eat it. And with discount superchains like Wal-Mart (the country's number-one seller of organic milk) slashing the organic markup to 10 percent (it's usually 20 to 30 percent), organics aren't just for the Whole Foods elite. HOW "ORGANIC" IS IT? Products labeled "organic" must consist of 95 percent organically produced ingredients, but products that contain only 70 percent organic ingredients can use the phrase "Made with organic ingredients." Read carefully.

End of Article...

On this same issue I have other links to articles I googled or read on my own. I find some reputable and others I do not know but they write supporting or as I see it educated opinions on the topic but who is to say they could all be lying through their teeth. One article is found on the Center for Consumer Freedom Website and you can see it by clicking their link http://www.consumerfreedom.com/news_detail.cfm/headline/2334 or you can read an article from the BusinessWeek Website by clicking their link http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_42/b4005001.htm or also there is another article found on the Biblelife website; http://www.biblelife.org/organic.htm and additionally I found an Organic Life Website that had positive points; http://www.organic.org/articles/showarticle/article-207 there is another MSNBC/BusinessWeek article on Organic foods; http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15158675/

and finally a totally Pro-Organic article slash pamphlet from Farmingsolutions.org gives their viewpoints, as well. http://www.farmingsolutions.org/pdfdb/Organic%20Food%20and%20Farming,%20Myth%20and%20Reality.pdf This last link shows that they are specifically pro-organic and give no truly negative sides to Organic farming.

I also spoke to my Aunt and Uncle recently about this issue. They own a farm and raise Beef-Cattle and Belgian Horses. They are very knowledgeable about farming as they have recently been given the Century award for having a farm owned by the same family for over 100 years. They own my Grandparents farm, the farm my Mom grew up on and I am sure her Grandparents farmed, as well. They tell me that "Organic Beef" is a misnomer and a matter of labeling only. In our state livestock must be vaccinated by state law, in order for the livestock to be sold to the general public and therefore it cannot be "Organic". They do not know how someone can label beef as "Organic" in their state when it is truly not "Organic".

My overall opinion is not a slam of Organic foods or the practices of Organic farming, I am attempting to view it from a "Carbon Footprint" point of view. So all of you Holy Organic New Age Guru types don't be getting your panties in a wad. I am speaking from a wholly Global Warming side of the issue only. Although, I personally think a lot of the "Organic" stuff is just a bunch of hoopla and not as much too it as its commanded to be. That being said and from all that I have read, I feel that Organic Farming is an option and certain aspects of it are probably healthier for you but the "Carbon Footprints" it leaves behind in its wake are more than I care to pursue.