Mainstream writer “gets” organic
Aug 6, 2009 10:11 AM, By Cary Blake, Farm Press Editorial Staff
I let loose with a chorus of “amens” and “hallelujahs” when reading a July 1 article on organic foods in the Los Angeles Times written by Russ Parsons.
Parsons declared, “I don’t believe in organic” in an article that tossed organic fanatics on the hot plate for the industry’s too common “shove-it-down-your-throat” shenanigans toward mandatory organic food consumption.
Perhaps even more shocking to organic followers was Parson’s admonition that he liked organic and conventional farmers. He called organic agriculture an “oversimplification.”
I was stunned by what I read – verbiage from a mainstream writer in a major daily paper who actually “gets” the organic issue.
“I think the ones who need to do the apologizing are the often well-meaning organic advocates who paint such a black-and-white picture of the way farming works that it seems there should be no choice at all,” Parsons skillfully wrote. “The real world isn’t black and white at all.”
I get tired of reading that organic agriculture is the greatest innovation since the ark. It’s the organic way or the highway.
For the record, I am pro conventional and organic agriculture. There should be place settings around the table for both growing methods. However, consumers, including moi, should have the right to choose which foods to consume. It’s a free country, but that’s fodder for a future commentary.
What keeps ticking in my brain cell-declining “chrome dome” is a population clock referenced by speakers I heard last summer during the BIO International Convention in San Diego which drew 35,000 attendees.
The speakers predicted world population will surpass 8 billion people by the year 2025. The current tally is about 6.7 billion.
While both conventional and organic agriculture can help feed tomorrow’s hungry mouths, I believe conventional agriculture will be the breadwinner in growing the mammoth amounts of food demanded in the future.
I am grateful for biotechnology, farm chemicals, and other methods, including organic, that fill my belly and billions more every day with safe and nutritious grub.
email: cblake@farmpress.com
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