permaculture

[Steve Hart <stevenlawrencehart@gmail.com>]

Well well well....this sort of crap which is not new needs to be
totally ignored. Just read the guys credentials (below) and one
immediately knows who pays him...press delete....Steve Hart

Henry I. Miller, a physician and fellow in Scientific Philosophy and Public
Policy at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, was the founding
director of the Office of Biotechnology at the US Food and Drug
Administration

On 18 November 2013 21:40, Chris Wardle <cjwardle@gmail.com> wrote:
> Respected teachers,
> The following article, appeared in this morning’s edition of The Kathmandu
> Post.
> In addition to your reactions, links to evidence upon which a rebuttal
> could be made, would be greatly appreciated.
> Namaste from Kathmandu,
> Chris Wardle.
> ===
>
> Source:
> http://epaper.ekantipur.com/ktpost/showtext.aspx?boxid=153350234&parentid=26361&issuedate=18112013
>
> ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY
>
> Myth of Organic Agriculture
>
> Henry I. Miller
>
>
> STANFORD — Organic products — from food to skincare nostrums to cigarettes
> — are very much in vogue, with the global market for organic food alone now
> reportedly exceeding $60 billion annually. The views of organic devotees
> seem to be shared by the European Commission, whose official view of
> organic farming and foods is, “Good for nature, good for you.” But there is
> no persuasive evidence of either.
>
> A 2012 meta-analysis of data from 240 studies concluded that organic fruits
> and vegetables were, on average, no more nutritious than their cheaper
> conventional counterparts; nor were they less likely to be contaminated by
> pathogenic bacteria like E. coli or salmonella — a finding that surprised
> even the researchers. “When we began this project,” said Dena Bravata, one
> of the researchers, “we thought that there would likely be some findings
> that would support the superiority of organics over conventional food.”
>
> Many people purchase organic foods in order to avoid exposure to harmful
> levels of pesticides. But that is a poor rationale. While nonorganic fruits
> and vegetables had more pesticide residue, the levels in more than 99% of
> cases did not cross the conservative safety thresholds set by regulators.
>
> Moreover, the vast majority of the pesticidal substances found on produce
> occur “naturally” in people’s diets, through organic and conventional
> foods. The biochemist Bruce Ames and his colleagues have found that “99.99%
> (by weight) of the pesticides in the American diet are chemicals that
> plants produce to defend themselves. Only 52 natural pesticides have been
> tested in high-dose animal cancer tests, and about half (27) are rodent
> carcinogens; these 27 are shown to be present in many common foods.”
>
> The bottom line is that natural chemicals are just as likely as synthetic
> versions to test positive in animal cancer studies, and “at the low doses
> of most human exposures, the comparative hazards of synthetic pesticide
> residues are insignificant.” In other words, consumers who buy expensive
> organic foods in order to avoid pesticide exposure are focusing their
> attention on 0.01% of the pesticides that they consume.
>
> Ironically, in both Europe and North America, the designation “organic” is
> itself a synthetic bureaucratic construct — and it makes little sense. It
> prohibits the use of synthetic chemical pesticides, with some pragmatic
> exceptions. For example, the EU’s policy notes that “foreseen flexibility
> rules” can compensate for “local climatic, cultural, or structural
> differences.” When suitable alternatives are lacking, some (strictly
> enumerated) synthetic chemicals are allowed.
>
> Similarly, in the US, there is a lengthy list of specific exceptions to the
> prohibitions. But most “natural” pesticides — as well as pathogen-laden
> animal excreta, for use as fertilizer — are permitted.
>
> Another rationale for buying organic is that it is supposedly better for
> the natural environment. But the low yields of organic agriculture in
> real-world settings—typically 20-50% below yields from conventional
> agriculture — impose various stresses on farmland and increase water
> consumption substantially. According to a recent British meta-analysis,
> ammonia emissions, nitrogen leaching, and nitrous-oxide emissions per unit
> of output were higher in organic systems than in conventional agriculture,
> as were land use and the potential for eutrophication —adverse ecosystem
> responses to the addition of fertilizers and wastes— and acidification.
>
> An anomaly of how “organic” is defined is that the designation dœs not
> actually focus on the food’s quality, composition, or safety. Rather, it
> comprises a set of acceptable practices and procedures that a farmer
> intends to use. For example, chemical pesticide or pollen from genetically
> engineered plants wafting from an adjacent field onto an organic crop dœs
> not affect the harvest’s status. EU rules are clear that food may be
> labeled as organic as long as “the ingredients containing [genetically
> modified organisms] entered the products unintentionally” and amount to
> less than 0.9% of their content.
>
> Finally, many who are seduced by the romance of organic farming ignore its
> human consequences. American farmer Blake Hurst offers this reminder:
> “Weeds continue to grow, even in polycultures with holistic farming
> methods, and, without pesticides, hand weeding is the only way to protect a
> crop.” The backbreaking drudgery of hand weeding often falls to women and
> children.
>
> Of course, organic products should be available for people who feel that
> they must have and can afford them. But the simple truth is that buying
> non-organic is far more costeffective, more humane, and more
> environmentally responsible.
> ===
> Henry I. Miller, a physician and fellow in Scientific Philosophy and Public
> Policy at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, was the founding
> director of the Office of Biotechnology at the US Food and Drug
> Administration
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-- 
Kia ora


Steve Hart
Ecology Architect
skype: stevenlawrencehart