Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Here's a link to a review of an article in Cosmos: [web]http://www.reason.com/blog/show/122504.html[/web]

It's not the kind of thing that changes anyone's mind, but I thought it was interesting.

The local CSA I get produce from produces enough produce every week for 40 families, on three acres, organically. Organic methods less productive?!?

Don't think so!
Nor less flavoursome.
Nor more impact.
Keep growing organic!

I admit I did not read all of the above post - but the key statement in my view is the one that speaks about freshness and the variety (ie not the ones grown to look or store good rather than taste good) of the fruit/veg is the most important factor.

We all know the difference in taste between a home grown tomato and one bought from the store. Even the organically grown stuff is often in pretty bad shape by the time it is bought in the stores.

Having said that I am also totally against using any chemical pesticides or fertilisers, but am not entirely convinced that residues exist in many of the store bought veg.

I personally find that the organic selection in my market is usually worse that the conventional stuff. I think it's the lack of preservative sprays.

I was reading on wikipedia the other day about "food miles." The article there talks basically in terms of efficiency of resources and somewhat neglects the freshness aspect.

all the more reason to 'grow your own'.
To me the thought of preventitive spraying and
irradition to preserve shelf life could not be good.
We know the vitamins in fruit and veg, breakdown rapidly after picking.
That combined with eating out of season fruit and veg and the food miles to get food to my door from distant places, is incentive to
grow and know what is in the stuff we eat!

"Food miles" is a factor that will become self evident to Australians in the very near future....

Combine the cost of petrol/transport with the resurgance of drought, rising water prices and rising power prices .... and this country is about to see food prices rise by anything up to 30% IMO

All good reasons to grow your own I reckon.....

And scientifically proven or not.... I prefer the taste and get a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that my food hasn't been soaked in preservatives and pesticides....

And I will confess... it also gives me a mischeivous little grin to think that I might have stuck it up Monsanto just a little bit

...

Was he mistaking hydroponic grown to organic. There is a huge difference IMHO. It also sounded as if he considered GM to be organic as well..

Did anyone else get that. Any vegetables which are marketed as "pest resistant" can't be too good for you.

I though organic meant, zero GM, no fertilizers or chemicals and grown naturally? How is that bad for you.

Yes I was of the same opinion TC.
Organic=traditional seeds non GM, no chemmies, in ground with no contaminants, no chemmie residue...plain old food!
C1

sure organically grown produce may not have more nutrients or even be better for us. however over the long term i believe there will be more nutrients available for people to consume if organic methods are used. it has been shown that the use of chemicals depletes top soil to the extent where it can't be used to grow crops without the chemicals. chemicals destroy the bio-life which convert waste into nutrients for the plants to take up and then pass on the nutrients to us. i guess what i am getting at is that organic practices are better for feeding the earth's nutritional requirements for a diverse web of life. in a way the chemical industry has vested interest in destroying the earths soils as it will creates more and more dependence on chemicals. theres no wonder there is money invested in trying to "debunk" the organic industry.

WOW, organics copped a beating!

I can't believe that i actually read 3/4 of those posts under the article.

I'm SURE that there are many instances in history when vested intrest research said "look! no problems in a sample group!" only to have the truth become common knowledge later.................

Um.. thalidomide (thəlĭd`əmĭd'), sleep-inducing drug found to produce skeletal defects in developing fetuses. The drug was marketed in Europe, especially in West Germany and Britain, from 1957 to 1961, and was thought to be so safe that it was sold without prescription. In 1961 an extremely high incidence of European babies born with malformed, shortened limbs was correlated with use of thalidomide by women in their first trimester of pregnancy. Before it was recalled from use the drug had caused the malformation of about 8,000 children throughout the world.

C1...should I get more?
There are hundreds, and they are the known ones, just think of the crap we are being subjected to now without even the slightest knowlege about.
Trans fats...you wait, this will be bigger than asbestos Oh ciggies and um a favorate, glass fibre!

Dr McBride

I think the point the author was trying to make was not counting GM crops as organic, but organic farmers choosing natural varieties that are relatively pest/disease resistant.