Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I agree with the philosophy that locally grown produce, and other products, generally are more environmentally and economically friendly than imported products. But, in todays global market and economy it is very common to find grapes from Chile, endive from the Netherlands, beef from Brazil and mutton from Australia on my market shelves. I am not saying that the imported products are not as good as my locally produced goods, just that most commercial outlets look for the lowest prices for the goods that they can get. Often times locally produced goods can not compete effectively with the imports due to the economics of scale and comparable wages.

Kevin

strange is it not that its cheaper to fly something round the word that grow it localy

And if something can't compete locally, how can it compete at all?

Thomas, just about the only way organically produced foods can compete is when the consumer feel that they are getting something benefical from the product. For many it is a sense of better health due to a lack of pesticides, herbicides, growth stimulating hormones, and in the case of meats,eggs and dairy products, antibiotics. For other consumers it is a desire to help maintain a more environmentally friendly food production system or a local economy. In most cases the biggest hurdle is the problem of mass produced foods which has an unfair advantage to that being produced by the smaller, sometimes artisianal producer.

I hope Frank is getting closer to finding the answer regarding the question of organic certification for AP, but I am afraid that most certification boards or commissions will be influenced by work already done on soil based programs.

i Haven't bought eggs for soo long that the price of a doz ORGAINC eggs floored me.............$4.90

I heard today thet "CHOICE" the consumer Association's magazine has said that the prices of "Organic" produce is not justified by the advertised benefits. They also said that the "organic chickens" having no hormones in their feed is correct, but that there have been no hormones in any chicken feed in Oz, for 25 years.

It doesn't matter to me, I grow my own, so I know what is in/on them.

Tony

Wow Steve,

I had to sit down when some of my customers told me they were paying $3.00 doz. for "organic" eggs, just because the guy planted clover in his yard and there fore supposedly made the eggs full of Omega-3.

I've always been a fit puzzled by 'vegetarian eggs'. Does that mean the poor chickens aren't allowed to scratch for grubs? Or is it just a fancy way to mean 'caged chickens fed grain'.

I saw an organic chicken at Woolies the other day - cost just under $20. They're dreaming.

Yeah.... but it's our bloody nightmare....

"CHOICE" lost their standing a long long time ago in my eyes. The shite i see them printing now leads me to believe that the researchers are on someones payrole.

Look at it, who pays for most of the university research via "grants"?

BTW, they are corrects about the hormones................was there no mention of the tonnes of antibiotics used?

yup not supposed to be hormones used in chooks for years (i seem to recall 20 ) but antibiotics now that is a verry different story

indeed, and was it chicken or red meat operations that used amoxcillan (sp?) as one of their anit-b's?

From BBc news Aug 2005:
Of the British-grown chickens analysed, over half were contaminated with multi-drug resistant E.coli which is immune to the effects of three or more antibiotics.

More than a third of the 147 samples, which included overseas and UK produced chicken, had E.coli germs resistant to the important antibiotic Trimethoprim which is used to treat bladder infections.

The Health Protection Agency scientists testing the meat also found 12 chickens had antibiotic resistant Campylobacter.

And VRE, or Vancomycin Resistant Enteroccci, were in 1 in 25 of the samples, although more tests would be needed to confirm the exact type of the bug found.

REAL STORY:
Monday, 15 August 2005
BBC ONE, 1930 BST


About the programme
No organic chickens were used - 64 were from the UK and 83 from abroad.

yeh, but CHOICE missed THAT one, huh? LOL

No dig at you tony