Pollan Response: Big Organic
The idea of organic seems simple
enough. Food and food products produced
without any scientific intervention to the food and livestock is fed its
natural diet with room to roam a pasture.
Little did I know the Big Organic and laws passed to determine what was
needed to be labeled “organic” were not what I had envisioned at all. Organic farmers are able to use synthetics
such as xanthan gum and ascorbic acid.
Animals such as dairy cows are still confined. In the law it states that to be classified as
organic the animals only need “access to pasture” or “access to outdoors”. The laws give exemptions and twist and turn
to allow for common practices in other forms of agribusiness, but only a few
restrictions are really needed to qualify as organic. Occasionally, I buy organic foods. It made me feel better because I thought it
was coming from a better place. In
reality it may not be all that different or all that more humane. I even question the farmers markets that I go
to now. Do they use synthetics? Do they
use organic seeds? It makes you wonder
what you can really trust. I understand
that since agriculture is in fact a business you need to take the steps to be
competitive in the field. Although in
this business it means that “organic” is not as organic as one would
think.
If only there were a way to bring
back the idea of the idea of organic most people imagine is there. Its also hard the go back to this idea when
companies like Monsanto are promoting a “feed the world campaign” with they GMO
infused grain and locking people into business by constantly needing to buy
more corn. If only there was a way to
bring the farmers who genuinely care back, a public that looks out for it is
own well-being, and rid agribusiness of companies who use chemicals to make
food more profitable for them.
4 comments:
Nicole, the loose qualifications for "organic" food surprised me too! I first read about this side of agribusiness in Barbara Kingsolver's 2007 nonfiction book Vegetable, Animal, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. Kingsolver, like Pollan, is concerned about where her foods come from. This book (she's written multiple on the subject of food) tracks the year her family abandoned industrially-grown products and committed to a complete home-grown diet. There's an entire chapter on asparagus!
Nick Saccary
It is crazy how something like organic food has changed since it has become a mainstream idea. Years ago, when every large company didn't have an organic line of food, the organic selections were much more truthful. But now that organic food has entered the market in a big way, companies are doing the bare minimum requirements to save money when they should be really focusing on the whole reason people buy organic food, to eat food free of chemicals and inhumane processes and growing techniques!
I think the best part of this post is the first sentence, "The idea of organic seems simple enough". It does seems simple enough which is why it is so sad that it is far from simple. And not only is it far from simple, but it is very close to a lie, or a blurred line between what the big corporations can get away with and what public thinks is truly organic.
I also agree that we need to find a way to bring back farmers who care. But I do not think it is the farmers fault, I think they are being forced in to situations by big corporations that make them take the unhealthier route in order to stay afloat.
Organic is a buzz word, and like most buzz words it fails to live up to the expectation. Just because something is organic does not mean that it was raised humanely and it does not guarantee that the food is healthy. Organic did not even exist as a mainstream idea before 2000, so in 15 years it has come quite some way.
-Matt
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