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WalMart pushing Organic
Melanie Warner at the NYT reports today that Wal-Mart is about to dramatically increase its organic food offerings.
In very understated fashion, she says, “Wal-Mart’s interest is expected to change organic food production in substantial ways.”
Um, yeah, it sure will.
Wal-Mart’s plan is to sell organics ~10% over the price of non-organics — a much closer premium than you can get elsewhere. It’s also getting brands like Pepsi, Rice Krispies, and Kraft Mac ‘n’ Cheese in the game.
There’s good back and forth in the article about the pros and cons of further industrializing organics — availability and expansion of the market in the pros, weakening standards and increased overseas production in the cons.
I’m torn about this. On one hand, it hints at a possible tipping point whereby agriculture might adopt organics much more widely; on the other, it raises the specter of complete corporate domination of organics. There’s an ongoing fight to weaken organic standards, and Wal-Mart’s entry may enable agribusiness to erode organic’s validity.
Another issue, tied up with this one, has been bothering me lately. It comes up in a lot of enviro writing, especially related to food: an unquestioned tangling of values and goals. I’ll take it up more fully in a later post, but wanted to mention it here.
In Warner’s article, a Wal-Mart exec is quoted as saying, “Organic agriculture is just another method of agriculture — not better, not worse.” The advocacy group Organic Consumers’ Association is described as being concerned that “Wal-Mart did not care about the principles behind organic agriculture,” and that outsourcing will lead to “dubious organic standards and labor conditions that are contrary to what any organic consumer would consider equitable.” I imagine many Gristmill readers will agree with the OCA’s position, but I’m not so sure.
In my mind, organic is an agricultural practice, not a cultural norm. There’s nothing inherent in organic agriculture that prohibits industrialized farming. There are important issues about protecting standards, but if we agree on standards for organics, then it’s inevitable we’re going to see industrialized versions of them.
That’s a good thing, right? Organic foods are healthier, and organic practices better for the environment. So I want to see more people eating organics. The goal is organic food production, but the unquestioned value tangled up with that goal is small, locally owned farms. Organics may have evolved in small farming practices, and we may feel an attachment or preference for that approach, but for me that’s not really the goal.
A bias against industrialized food production itself, based on the past behavior of agribusiness or our desire to see more small farms, is counterproductive and marginalizes our arguments. Vigilant protection of organic standards and oversight of organic practices is more valuable, and allows organic food production to grow and benefit more people. Our stomachs may turn at the prospect of organic Pepsi, but it’s important to examine what about that upsets us — and not assume it’s inherently a bad thing.
Why Choose Organic Cotton?
By Karin Frost, ERGObaby Designer and President and Claire Kellerman, Permaculture Designer and Writer
We cherish our children and devote ourselves to serving their best interests in their health, happiness and development. When they are babies, we hold them close to our hearts to nurture our bond with them. In their maturation they insist on freedom and we gradually let them go to foster their independence.
We give them the best guidance we know so they may make the best choices along the pathway of life. Our choices decide the quality of life for generations to come. Our Universal circumstances are now pressuring us as a collective society to choose between health and sustainability or toxins and conventional agriculture.
Cotton In Our Everyday Lives
A helpful fact from the Untouched World website (untouchedworld.com) warns “pesticides used in conventional cotton farming can enter the human food chain.
Cotton is grown primarily for its fiber and is regulated as a non-food crop. However, the majority of the cotton plant by weight ends up in our food supply. Cottonseed oil is used in processed foods. Beef and dairy cows are fed cotton straw, cotton seed meal and waste from cotton gins.”
It is very common to find salad dressings, candy and cakes that include cottonseed oil in their ingredients, and since it is not organic cottonseed oil, it is the sludge oil full of toxic chemicals.
The Shift from Nature To Chemicals
Why do we need to choose between taking the organic high road to healthy vitality versus the slippery slide down, poisoning our foods and fibers through conventional agriculture? How did we get to this point?
Organic cotton grows beautifully within verdant ecosystems nourished by living soil and by the cycles of life. Waste is recycled into nutrients, and the sun and rain are utilized to grow healthy plants blossoming with white cotton puffs.
Organic agriculture is based on sound principles that enhance wellbeing of the fields as well as the farmers who work the fields and the products that are produced for the consumers of our global environment. This also includes caring for the people who transform the fiber into textiles and the fabric into products. Organic cotton is the sustainable and supportive choice.
So, why and how did our successful organic world change less than a century ago?
One factor was the surplus of war chemicals at the end of World War II. Left over bomb ingredients, e.g., ammonium nitrate, and bug repellent, e.g., DDT, and other chemicals were engineered into agricultural products and used to kill the plant pests and weeds. The excess chemicals found a home in our fields, our food chain, and our fatty tissue, leading to disease in our bodies, and wreaking havoc on our ecosystems.
This singular focus of reaping profits from excess chemicals ignored the cost of health on all levels, including the birds and insects whose contributions are vital to the soil and ecosystem. Our soil has suffered desertification as a result, losing its vitality and natural beneficial relationships wherever toxic chemicals are used.
Mr. Ramji Raja, consultant for ERGObaby’s Organics production in India, offered his insight, “The end of the war may have been the start of chemical farming, but that was just the seed! It was the intensive agriculture taken over by corporate entities that brought the most detrimental viewpoint; they saw the land as a factory. They ignored the fact that soil is a living organism, not taking care to see that the life of the soil was nourished and sustained.”
Proudly, Mr. Raja shared, “Textiles have been created in India for 5,000 to 6,000 years, and were always grown organically until the British came in the early 1900’s. Large mills were set up, and grew, until India produced 97% conventional (toxic, chemical) cotton textiles. It has been a process and has taken years of education, and increasing lobbying and awareness to move organics forward. India is now the world’s largest producer of organic fibers.”
Back To Our Roots
Mr. Raja is enthusiastic about the operations he oversees that create ERGObaby Organic products, “We look at the entire system around the baby carrier, not only using very stringent testing and certifying by the highest organic standards.
We also put a huge emphasis on environmental and social accountability, looking at the fiber, spinning and weaving processes, and how they affect the water that leaves our factory. Our water goes through three stages of purification until finally it is used outside our factory to water the trees. These are trees we plant around the factory to honor our visitors.”
Each visitor has a plaque with their name on it by the tree that has been planted in their presence.
Choosing organic cotton has the most positive impact because it supports and enriches all life, including everything that touches our skin, feeds our bodies, and nurtures our peace of mind.
We choose organic as often as possible in these times of transition for all these reasons. Organic cotton is grown from a web of healthy relationships locally and around the world; an inviting and very easy personal choice to make.
Take a look at our Organic Ergo Baby carrier.
-MOBS
Why Organic is good for our babies
As parents, we want to feed our children healthy food. What parent would turn down the chance to give a child delicious, healthy food that is convenient, a good money value, that the child loves – and then responds with a, “Thank you, Mommy, that was great! May I help clean up?”
In practice, though, many powerful forces determine our food choices. Our children have tasted artificially flavored, partially hydrogenated, day-glow snack foods and clamor for more. Our kids tell us that their friends’ “parents let them eat” the latest processed food fashion. Huge sums of money pay for artists, musicians, toy manufacturers, psychologists, and marketers to work together to carefully manipulate your child’s food preferences.
We’re busy and want something simple, quick, and preferably inexpensive. We return to the ruts of the unhealthy foods we ate ourselves as kids or that we know our own kids will like. We feel guilty because of our busy lifestyles and don’t want to say “no” to our kids – especially if it means yet another battle.
And the last straw – we hear conflicting information about what is healthy. High carb or low carb? Low fat is good for kids. Low fat is bad for kids. Sugar doesn’t affect behavior. Sugar causes ADHD. Aspartame is totally safe. Airplane pilots aren’t allowed to eat foods containing aspartame because it affects their judgment
Phew! What’s a parent to do?
Thankfully, making healthier food choices is simple and clear. Increasing fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in the diet makes the diet healthier. Especially in our antibiotic-flooded age, eating foods that contain live active cultures of beneficial bacteria makes our diet healthier. Decreasing artificial chemicals in the diet and the environment, makes us all healthier.
Nutrition is not an all-or-none activity. The goal is to keep making choices that make the diet a little better.
A Stitch in Time
DDT used in the United States before 1966 may have caused an epidemic of premature births that has only now been detected! According to a fascinating study published in the July 14, 2001 issue of The Lancet, scientists who studied stored cord blood samples from mothers who had delivered at that time found elevated levels of DDT breakdown products among the group who had premature deliveries or low birth weight infants. This would make DDT responsible for a host of medical problems and the deaths of many children – but the link wasn’t proven until more than 30 years later! DDT use in the United States was stopped in 1972 because it caused reproductive damage to birds (the bald eagle and brown pelican were nearly extinct), but DDT is still widely used in developing countries for insect control. I’m certain that the dangers of some chemicals in common use in the United States today will be proven in the future. I believe that toxic chemicals are one of the biggest health threats to our children. We may not prove the links until they are grown, but we must not wait until then to provide them with safe food, water, air, homes, and schools.
On a personal note, my wife has now recovered from a very malignant form of breast cancer. She has no family history of the disease, but toxic chemicals were used on her farm when she was a child.
What we now call ‘conventional farming’ is actually something very new. In the 20th century, our naïve optimism about science led to the over-exuberant use of antibiotics, infant formulas, surgery, pesticides, hormones, and fossil fuels. It’s time to bring this back into balance.
Organic food has long been the standard for human nutrition. In contrast, many chemicals and hormones introduced post World War II do not have proven long-term safety. Some of them may be fine. Time will tell. I prefer organic for children where there is a good choice.
With the dramatic increase in organic farming in recent years, the new generation of organic farmers is developing innovative and earth friendly ways to increase yields and improve flavor. What is organic and why is it so important for our children?
Organic Defined
Organic refers to the way agricultural products–food and fiber–are grown and processed. It is an ecological system that relies on healthy, rich soil to produce plants that resist pests and diseases. Organic farming prohibits the use of toxic and persistent chemicals in favor of innovative practices that work with nature, instead of against it, such as crop rotation, cover crop planting, beneficial insect release and composting. In the case of livestock, no antibiotics or synthetic hormones are permitted. Organic production also prohibits the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Organic practices mean:
- No pesticides to contaminate our soil and water or injure farm workers
- No fertilizers to runoff and contaminate rivers, lakes and oceans
- A healthier and more sustainable environment for us all
Pesticides In Our Food and Environment
Chemicals used in conventional farming pose many risks to human health. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is charged with evaluating pesticides and setting “acceptable risk” levels of exposure. EPA’s tests have largely been conducted on fully grown adult men or non-human animal species, exposing them to one chemical at a time. Evidence now shows that chemicals in combination–the way we are usually exposed to them in everyday life—may exponentially increase health risk.
Additionally, many EPA-approved pesticides were registered long before extensive research linked these chemicals to cancer and other diseases. Now the EPA considers 33% of all pesticides as potentially cancer-causing.
Why Organic Especially for Children?
Children are developing organs to last a lifetime. Due to their smaller size, fast-growing speedy metabolisms, and less varied diets, infants and children are more vulnerable to health and developmental damage. In 1993, a congressionally mandated study by the National Academy of Sciences expressed concern that existing methods of risk evaluation for pesticide exposure were failing children. More recently, the Consumers Union and Environmental Working Group have released studies confirming that children are overexposed even if their exposure is within legal limits.
The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 mandated a review of agricultural chemicals in light of this new information about risk assessment. Included in this act is a requirement to impose a 10-fold margin of safety to protect children when setting standards for the use of pesticides on food. While safety standards have become more strict, buying organic products, if they are available and you can afford them, and supporting organic agriculture may be your best protection.
Why Does Organic Cost More?
Organic products do tend to cost more than their conventional counterparts. To some extent, this is changing as production capacity and demand for organic products increase, improving production efficiencies and lowering prices at the checkout. In addition, many involved in organic are striving for a sustainable agricultural system–one which is ecologically sound as well as economically viable. Paying farmers a fair price for their products is an important tenet for many involved in organic agriculture.
Raising a family on a budget can pose challenges at times. Watching pennies and doing “the right thing” for our families can sometime seem in conflict. For example, in the case of organic foods and fibers, it’s understandable to question if the benefits are really worth the extra cost. Looking beyond the price of an organic product and considering the true value, may shed light on the subject. When considering products for your children, organic may indeed be a far better value.
An Opportunity to Support a Healthier Tomorrow
Our children are our most treasured resources, and we have the opportunity to protect them. By reducing toxic exposure, organic products can help us raise healthy, strong children. Through nurturing the soil and keeping toxic and persistent chemicals out of the environment, organic agriculture is one thing we can support to help us pass along a healthy and safe planet for future generations. The cost may be a little more, but the value for you and your family may be far greater.
Read more: http://www.drgreene.com/article/organic-choice-our-children#ixzz0n0ujMDFA
We thought this was a good one.. MOBS