permaculture

["John Schinnerer" <john@eco-living.net>]

Aloha,

> ... But exactly
> what is the problem with irradiation?

For the food itself, probably at least some amount of enzyme
disruption/destruction, so "dead" food instead of "live" food.  I doubt that
much is really known about the holistic consequences.

> It does not affect the food. It kills pathogens.

I am not aware of any selective irradiation that only kills "bad" critters and
not "good" critters.  I expect it kills them all, including enzyme damage and
other unknowns, including molecular disruption possibly similar to microwave
cooking.

There's really no need to get stuck in scientific arguments though.  There are
plenty of other reasons why IMO irradiation is clearly a type 1 error.

Producers use irradiation for a variety of reasons.  As LL pointed out, it is
used to mask spoilage, low quality product, etc. in certain situations.  It is
also used to reduce problems of pathogens associated with large
scale/industrial food processing and/or long-distance food transportation.

The former is IMO clearly unethical as well as physically dangerous to those
doing the eating.

The latter is contra-indicated by Permaculture principles - industrial-scale
food processing and/or long-distance transport of (fresh) food is itself
pathological and unsustainable.  Irradiation is used as a "band-aid" to "fix"
these problems by further degrading the food while masking the true issues of
industrial food processing and long distance transport.

Localization and scale reduction are preferred designs IMO.

> When in doubt, look up the science on the subject.

Which science - that sponsored by the industry hired guns or that sponsored by
the radical opponents?  Science never proves anything.

"Science" is a good way for people opposing GMOs, irradiation, etc. to get
sucked into playing someone else's game.  The industries pushing this stuff
have *far* more money to pay for their science than most opposition groups
have to pay for theirs.  With a few exceptions, it's a fool's errand to try
and beat them at the $cience game.  Stay out of that trap and look for the
human/ethical/ecological/holistic/systemic designs instead.



John Schinnerer - MA, Whole Systems Design
------------------------------------------
- Eco-Living -
Cultural & Ecological Designing
People - Place - Learning - Integration
john@eco-living.net
http://eco-living