I had a weird conversation the other day, that could have escalated into a full blown debate, but it wasn't the place for it, so I felt the need to throw my thoughts on it out there....
Let me know your thoughts on the subject too? It's one of those ones that I don't think there is a right answer to?
Love
x x
I Think both sides of the argument are completely valid. I eat meat, always have, but I've lived around a LOOOT of vegetarians lol. Most of whom prefer organic stuff to the regular stuff. However they, like myself, probably had or have no idea about the animal blood being used?? That little piece of trivia came waaay out of left field lol.
ReplyDeleteI personally tend to agree more with you. The organic stuff is far more healthy than all the pesticides and crap, and animals are going to be killed for food for the rest of time anyways, that's just the way it is. We may kill them in unnatural ways but our desire for meat is a basic biological requirement of our species (on average).
Having said all that, I kind of think that the real issue isn't even organic versus inorganic. The reason these processes exist at all is due to the need for mass production. And mass production exists to satisfy the ridiculous amount of mouths across the planet. The real problem is that there are less and less farmers in the world as each generation goes by. And the less there are, the more people each one has to provide for.
What happens when/if there's no one left??
They took all the treesPut 'em in a tree museumAnd they charged the peopleA dollar and a half just to see 'em...
ReplyDeletetotally agree with you on organic food being vital for health and the humanity..
I also have a theory: The Ice age way of living is the way that will be ultimately most sustainable if we humans have to endure on this polluted sphere.....
There's quite a lot of info here http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jan/12/vegetarians-food-animal-origin-fertiliser-vegetarian
ReplyDeleteThere does appear to be a Vegan Organic society which is trying to deal with this, but I think that if you want to avoid these problems, it is better to grow stuff yourself. And if you are having problems buying a "product" because of what goes in it, why buy the "product"? Why not buy the ingredients, so that you know what you are getting?
I don't see that you can guarantee _not_ getting blood-based fertiliser used on crops even if you don't eat organic. The Soil Association say that blood and bone meal is expensive so not often used - unfortunately 'not often' doesn't equal 'never'...
We are vegetarians - have been for years, but vegetarianism is a bit of a cop-out, because drinking milk and eating cheese still implies exploiting animals - male calves get murdered. We eat organic as much as possible. We don't find it a problem with our diet, but vegetarian cooking does need a bit of learning, but there are plenty of books. You need spice and herbs in your food or else it gets bland. We buy organic because
a) it's better for the environment;
b) it uses less oil inn the process = less carbon dioxide
b) organic growing supports more people and provides jobs;
c) we don't want to ingest pesticides
d) we think it tastes better.
We buy local because
a) it keeps our money in the community longer;
b) it supports our local growers so that we will still have food when the oil runs out
c) it uses less oil shipping stuff around the world;
Thank you all for your thoughts... I find it really interesting. Good point about the not being able to guarantee what kind of fertiliser goes into non organic farming also, hadn't thought of that...
ReplyDeleteI dislike the word "organic" on principal. What is organic anyway? The way some people talk about fertilizers and e-numbers, you'd think they came from another planet, you'd think that they were sent here specifically to harm us. Yes, the idea of growing your carrots in fields of dung is very romantic and reminds us all of a simpler time but the population is growing and the area in which food can be produced is shrinking. There will be a point where "organic" food will not be viable and will be considered to be down right irresponsible. As for the lady whining about blood meal, she obviously has too many first world problems. If she was hungry enough, she'd eat anything.
ReplyDeletePerspective - first world problems... well said.
ReplyDelete@ Drew, the problem with using chemical fertilisers is that a lot of oil is used manufacturing them and we are using that up. Growing organically means that we replace the fertility of the land from the land itself, rather than continually requiring input of oil-based fertilisers. Also, non-organic growing needs phosphorus in fertilisers and this is running short too. Organic farming is not just a fad, it's a way of ensuring that we can grow food into the future. Long-term, organic growing is more viable than conventional methods
ReplyDelete@ Rainbow Bob :-)
ReplyDelete