While I normally enjoy the Northview Dairy blog for its window into a conventional dairy world foreign to my own, I have lately been contemplating removing it from my News Reader feed. And after the last post I am pretty much sure I will.
The blog post is about this offensive article by the Center For Global Food Issues, aka the Hudson Institute, aka the Forked Tongue Mouthpiece of Chemical Friendly Big Ag. (I personally don’t know how these morons can sleep at night after spewing their idiocy all day, everyday. But there you have it, it personally costs little to have no sense at all, especially if its at the peril of the environment and the health of your fellow man–we’re the ones who have to pick up that tab.)
And with quotes like this:
"The environmental impact of organic food is actually dreadful. It takes organic farmers roughly twice as much land to produce a ton of food, primarily because they refuse to use nitrogen fertilizer to replace the nitrogen taken from the soil by their growing crops. That means huge tracts of land must be used to “grow nitrogen,” either as cattle pasture or planted to non-food legumes such as clover and hairy vetch.
Humans are already using 37 percent of the Earth’s land area for farming, and we’ll need at least double today’s farm output to feed a peak human population of 8 or 9 billion in 2050. Thus, an all-organic farming mandate for the planet would mean clearing all 16 million square miles of remaining forest to plant more low-yield crops."
It gets you thinking– if it doesn’t raise your blood pressure first. Sure–for Organic agriculture it does take "more land". But it is land which is always productive, well looked after, providing a carbon sink against global warming and providing a diverse polyculture necessary for a balanced life on the planet. I don’t believe the quote about doubling the amount of land is correct. If the remainder of land WASTED by conventional agriculture was converted to HIGHER YIELDING organic crops we could actually turn more space into nitrogen producing carbon sinks which would help our current Global Warming Crisis without a single tree more. But that’s not the agenda of Big Ag. They’d rather see the destruction of the planet in whatever way as long as it means profits until the day the smoldering ruin of civilization prevents their greed from going further.
Okay, so my blood pressure is on the rise. But back to the original post–Northview Dairy ends their post with:
"When it comes to organic, I am of the "show me" persuasion. I have been there and done that. Although it is nice to grow organic vegetables for your own table and I say more power to you to farmers who are making an extra buck by that manner of production, it is just plain more expensive and more labor intensive to grow organic food. If we all did it somebody would end up going hungry. And due to the increased cost of organic production that somebody would probably folks who are poor already."
Hey, wait a minute–isn’t that the point??? If we were all involved in some sort of Organic Production then we would all be raising food on a local and sustainable scale. Communities would heal and people would get back to supporting their neighbors and local economies instead of the Hudson Institutes of the world filled with their ideological idiots. Further more, "if we all did it" the "increased cost of organic production" would not exist!
Organic production isn’t expensive–Conventional Agriculture is too cheap! It is subsidized by the Government at the cost of our Earth and the health of its citizens. People are poor because these subsidies
have stolen their livelihood. There is nothing wrong with farming. There is nothing wrong with work, or physical labor–so why is America so Allergic to it? "Labor intensive Agriculture" is spoken like a dirty word. If people would get up off of their fat-subsidized-lardy Asses and get moving, doing something physical–especially the poor who have sunk into the hole of cheap and unhealthy food by circumstance–then health would improve, farming would regain the upperhand and local, community agriculture would thrive and people would be able to afford the food they helped grow themselves. That’s one of the things which so pissed me off about the South Central Farmers issue–those people were doing something to make a difference but small minded, Earth destructive oppressors are too worried about profit, greed and corruption to to take their head out of their buttholes and make a difference themselves.
And by the way–technically I AM POOR! We’re just at the poverty level. An I am happy to spend more on Organic Foods–not because I want to flaunt my wealth, or impress my neighbors (most of who have millions more in the bank than I ever will). I am happy to support my local farmers, many of whom I now count as friends. And I am happy to keep my money in the community rather than send it out to god knows where, for god knows what, which travels god knows how far. Oh, and it tastes WAY better than conventional crap which is overly processed.
It’s a shame more people don’t feel the same. The problem is most people can’t see the CGFI’s lies for what they are.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Ouch, I can see you feel strongly that organic is the way to go. Sorry, I don’t share your views in part because too many local dairymen have gone that route and ended up culling a third of their cows because they can’t use antibiotics when they are sick unless they sell them afterwards. And animals and people get sick no matter how well you care for them. I know a kid whose dad went organic As for the Fat-subsidized-lardy Asses part, that is rather unkind. Although we farm conventionally we still get to work at about 5:30 in the morning and quit between 8 and 9 PM
Sorry that submitted while I was still typing…as I was saying a kid we know had her father decide to go organic and within two years all her show cows had been culled or died. Antibiotics can certainly be overused or wrongly used, but they are essential tools in the little black bag of both the veterinarian just like the human doctor. Doesn’t seem quite fair to deny our cattle necessary medicine.
Hey, thanks for stopping in. Don’t get me wrong–the lardy ass comment was directed at Americans who don’t work a physical job–not farmers or people who get out an produce a real, tanigible product.
As for the Organic Dairy thing–you’d have to hear my last show where I don’t necessarily agree with the organic dairy movement. Certainly it is wrong to raise cows who will get sick and eventually die. That is wrong. However, I come from 15 years experience working with a grass-fed non-organic dairy herd used for Raw Milk. The animals rarely get sick, if at all and none have died that I know of. I can’t remember the last time anti-biotics were used except as a last resort when a bottle of beer or other natural remedies wouldn’t work. Certainly there is vast room for improvement with Organics in both vegetable production and dairy. Currently the large organic dairys are in an attrocious state. I would rather see a different designation for dairies, like grass-fed, pasture raised, minimally treated, hormone free milk. There is a lot of precidence for this sort of thing and it could become the norm once again. It is a shame that “traditional” dairymen who decide to switch over don’t do it in stages before going all the way. It also must be said that some who do make the switch still use traditional methods which don’t work and lead to troubles. Firstly, grains–even organic grains–can’t be used in an Organic Dairy situation. They lead to too many health problems in the cows which lead to the need for antibiotics, etc. It becomes a vicous circle. I think, however, there are organic dairies which are sustainable, operate on a local level, and sell a great range of products which are the models everyone who wants to get into this sort of thing should watch and learn from. I’m not into the whole Dairy thing, much myself. I love working with the cows and hand milking and the preparation of raw milk but I don’t want to do that for a living. I’d rather just do it for my own use and leave it to my neighbors–they’ve been doing it for 30 years. I’d much rather raise organic pigs, chickens and beef–but as for getting certified–forget it: too much money for something which is meaning less and less.
And please understand. . .my “attack” isn’t a personal one. I was using your words as a spring board for my own message. My real beef is with the Hudson/CGFI consortiums’ poison. My post is more about alerting people to their lies than anything else. That and getting people to think and enter a conversation–like we are here.
So thanks again for stopping in, and hopefully we can agree to disagree.
I am a new pro-organic user but for different reasons. After serious problems with food, mainly dairy, I switched to Organic Produce. And I find that over time my symptoms decreased. I think that all the spraying and what else is making us sick and is destroying our Earth as well. Organic Farming is harder, more labour and time intensive, but I think it will make us healthier and will reduce cost for Health Care etc in the future. Long Term we should be a lot better off.
I understand where Organic Dairy Farmers are coming from when there herd is getting sick and even dies. But dont you think that what counts for us humans counts for them. Whatever they are spraying around is is effecting animals as well.
I am not a Farmer and I probably dont know what I am talking about. I can only say from experience that Organic Produce is healthier and is that not what we want for us and our children?
And I agree with Neal when it comes to Organic Certification. I produce Chutneys from Organic Produce and am not allowed to call it Organic without paying a huge sum. Fair enough, otherwise we wont be able to control our “healthy” food but it wont stop me from telling people that I am trying hard to give them good food.
You have to work hard and hand over a lot of money for the Certification (and this is in Ireland) which I think should be more accessable.
Neal, please keep talking about what annoys you, we should think about that kind of stuff a lot more. Sticking our heads in the sand wont make it go away.
Well said Chilli Girl! I think the thing is, people are afraid to stick their necks out and say controversial things publically for fear of getting their heads chopped off. I’ve got so many axe marks on my neck I could be Thomas More.
If people don’t start voicing their disgust with the status quo can anything ever get done? Still, I could probably do a better job with my passion and rhetoric so that don’t go about offending the very people I’m trying to convert. . . .