To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [NAFEX] Organics
Date: Fri, 10 Jun 2005 08:16:40 -0400
On Thu, 09 Jun 2005 19:30:46 -0500, Heron Breen <breen@fedcoseeds.com>
wrote:
It is interesting that present experiments with botanical >extracts
would be considered snake oil by anyone. Most of our >modern healthcare
products have their origin in botanical >compounds
Hi,
I guess a lot of that can be blamed on the long running, snake-oil
infomercials for products that do not work. You can hear them hawking
their wares, curing everything from hangnails to cancer. The same
side-show pitch of 100 years ago, revamped for the 21st century.
I agree that many chemicals have their roots in nature, however the
concentrations found in nature are so low, you could spray a natural
product all day with little effect.
Many lethal poisons are "are natural" too (oxcylic acid found in
rubarb, nicotine found in tabacco, and the alkaloid coniine found in
hemlock). But when you spray them in concentrations high enough to deter
insects, you can kill people too.
"All Natural" means nothing to me. Just because it is natural does not
make it safe.
If something works as advertised, great. If something doesn't work as
advertised, it is snake-oil. Lots of snake-oil to be found out there
today.
Later,
Tom
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