Organic

Neat experiment this

Paul,

A link to this on your permies site might be relevant.

Wow, that stuff is horrible; Google it and look at the MSDS. OK, fine, buying organic from now on.

We've linked to it several times at permies now.

Just think: that is just one chemical out of hundreds. Most of the stuff I'm working on is about how even "organic" is kinda lame.

How come your youtube thingie didn't work?

paul wheaton wrote:
How come your youtube thingie didn't work?

There were extra spaces inside the tag.

paul wheaton wrote:Most of the stuff I'm working on is about how even "organic" is kinda lame.

Yes, "organic" is a stupid word. First, its a perfectly good word with a well defined meaning that was misused in the 1940s or so to mean something completely different. Then, the term, even as used by the tree huggers, is meaningless -- too vague to help anyone make informed decisions. Its purely a marketing buzzword that spawns confusion and jacks up prices.

We need a new word, one that is coined for what we want it to mean.

This, of course, assumes we know what we want our new "organic" word to mean. And I haven't seen anyone even propose a good definition.

On a personal note, since the early years of this century, I have had to eat a gluten free diet. The bad news is that gluten is in d*** near every bit of commercially prepared food. The good news is that I'm eating (thanks to my wonderful wife) a lot of home made food made with fresh ingredients. Its much less convenient, but it has to be better for my body.

Although the word has had previous definitions, that isn't stopping folks from squeezing more out of it, and, thus, leading to a variety of confusion.

It is not a purely marketing buzzword. The USDA has strict definitions.

A group is putting something together under the label of AgriTrue which may be a big help.

paul wheaton wrote:It is not a purely marketing buzzword. The USDA has strict definitions.

Your definition of "strict" is clearly not the same as mine.

The USDA does have a definition, but its pitifully weak.

Since this is MD, I assume you won't be trying to tell me that the FDA cares about food. Its only the first word in their name. Sigh.

And again, a word that can mean so many things in this context: "weak".

I agree that the standard is ... a low bar. But, at the same time, having a crop get certified as organic can be a long, painful and expensive process.

I find that the FDA and USDA are supposed to be acting in the interests of the people. But instead they seem to work in the interests of a few large corporations, often making choices that favor those corporations over the health/interests of the people.