Why “Organic” isn’t a Panacea

Revised

Panacea…a cure-all; or the Greek goddess of healing…is she embodied in the word “organic”?
(…I think you know my opinion based on the title of this post…lol)

I have to admit that somethin’ annoys me (well, what doesn’t, really? lol) and it’s that the word “organic” is thrown around like some sort of panacea that’s going to solve all our health problems and save the environment.

Organic is Simply Another Factor to Consider

Do you know what “organic” means? No, seriously, do you? Because I have to keep looking it up and every time I do, I get more confused. I know plenty of people who, when prompted, reply that an “organic” label means no pesticides were used in yielding the product for consumption. Wrong. Fact *Dwight voice* — unless your food label says “100% certified organic,” a small percentage of pesticides have possibly been used. But is that really…that…bad? *Looks around for flying objects*

I don’t know. Don’t come to me for answers  I consider myself more of a broker between knowledge and action. I’m going to lay out all the resources and crap for your consideration ‘cuz this is a dialouge, not a sermon!

Now that my disclaimer is through…

Fact: “Organic” does not mean ethical, sustainable or local. Did you think that by eating grass-fed, organic cow it meant your steak was slaughtered ethically? Nope. Organic labels don’t relate to slaughter practices. You’d also consider where factory-farming landed on the ethic-o-meter and whether any “organic” or “grass-fed” label could counter it. You’d also wonder how environmentally-friendly your Chilean banana is. Food miles, friends — that’s gotta count, too, right? But, wait, screw food miles – what about world-wide hunger which, organic or not, we’d make a huge dent in if we ate less meat…right? Hello, anyone out there getting as worked-up in confusion and information overload as I am?

In a New York Times article in March of 2009, Mark Bittman wrote an interesting piece called, “Eating Food That’s Better for You, Organic or Not” (linked here, but you’ll need a NY Times password) in which he presents the varying issues surrounding the “allure” (and illusion) of organic foods and the other issues that inextricably relate. Here’ s a key excerpt:

“No matter how carefully I avoided using the word ‘organic’ when I spoke to groups of food enthusiasts about how to eat better, someone in the audience would inevitably ask, ‘What if I can’t afford to buy organic food?’ It seems to have become the magic cure-all, synonymous with eating well, healthfully, sanely, even ethically.

But eating ‘organic’ offers no guarantee of any of that. And the truth is that most Americans eat so badly — we get 7 percent of our calories from soft drinks, more than we do from vegetables; the top food group by caloric intake is ‘sweets’; and one-third of nation’s adults are now obese — that the organic question is a secondary one. It’s not unimportant, but it’s not the primary issue in the way Americans eat.

To eat well, says Michael Pollan, the author of ‘In Defense of Food,’ means avoiding ‘edible food-like substances’ and sticking to real ingredients, increasingly from the plant kingdom. (Americans each consume an average of nearly two pounds a day of animal products.) There’s plenty of evidence that both a person’s health — as well as the environment’s — will improve with a simple shift in eating habits away from animal products and highly processed foods to plant products and what might be called ‘real food.’ (With all due respect to people in the ‘food movement,’ the food need not be ‘slow,’ either.)”

This piece was rad. First off — he mentioned Michale Pollan, which you know means I swooned. Second off, he mentioned how there are so many things to consider when you’re deciding what to eat. It’s not just about what you’re putting into your body, but also how that choice affects the environment and what it tells food producers. As Pollan always says, “we vote with our forks.”

I was watching a live-stream of Pollan speaking at Goucher College earlier this week (click here for info. and here for a re-cap) and a student asked him how he’d feel about McDonald’s going organic. His response? “Organic junk food is still junk food.” Bottom line — we can’t expect “going organic” to change a foundation of crappy eating habits or even the foundation of our society that privileges meat products (via subsidies) over vegetables & fruit and instant gratification over home-cookin’. We can’t expect going organic to solve our gas-guzzling love affair. So what can we expect?

It depends. What do YOU want?

I guess that’s what you have to answer for yourself. If it’s concentration of nutrients, knowing your food was local, knowing the animals were slaughtered “humanely,” etc. that dictates how you should choose your food. Frankly, they haven’t invented a “honest-to-goodness-this-is-the-best-for-the-environment-in-an-ethical-and-sustainable-and-forever-sort-of-way” label. Why? Well goodness, we can never agree on what’s sustainable or even on what’s ethical! Come on, now!

Do your research and then the right choice is your choice.

When it comes to my choice — well…it’s always evolving based on whatever new reputable research I get my hands on, or whatever new connection or links I’ve made that seem highest order on the list of my concerns. Right now I eat vegan — so no animal products (though I occasionally make exceptions for honey; no logic in that choice, just pure desire outweighing all else) and I also keep WOLF in mind. WOLF = wholesome, organic, and local food. I value wholesome food, organic or not, over its alternative. Organic and local are mostly interchangeable though I’ll prioritize organic if it’s a produce item considered one of the “dirty dozen” and favor local if the produce is available and not one of the “dirty dozen.”

Want to Read More?

• British Foods Standards Agency’s Report that Organics and Coventional Produce Do Not Differ Nutrionally ; A response to that in the UK’s Telegraph here and on the blog Mulch here (though keep in mind that “organic” means different things in the UK than it does in the US)
• The National Organic Program(the US’s “certified organic” standards)
• Distinction of Different Organic Labels
• The “Dirty Dozen” I tend to buy organic
• Even “healthy foods” that are not 100% certified organic can have very harmful neurotoxin, hexane, in them. Check your veggie burgers…
• An article I liked showcasing the polarity of organics: “Save the Rainforest, Boycott Organic?” (Click here)

<3,

The Cranky One

Tags: michael pollan, National organic program, organic foods