Is the Organic Movement Disrespectful to Traditional Farming?
The organic movement is growing and if people like me have
our way then in the next decade “conventional” farming will disappear from the
mainstream. It is my firm belief that
organic food, clothing and cosmetics truly are the answer to many of the ills
that face our society today. In an
interesting article on the website of Representative Kurt Schrader D-OR, I
found the following quote.
"That's one of the things that has
caught me and raises my concerns, is that industry's lack of respect for
traditional agriculture," said Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., referring to some
organic companies' efforts to reduce the number of genetically modified crops in
the marketplace.
Representative Austin goes on to say that he and his wife
buy organic foods. What I find
interesting is that he calls conventional or chemical farming “traditional” to
include the use of GM crops and points out the organic industry’s “lack of
respect” troubles him somehow.
A quick history lesson:
Anthropologists believe that human beings have been in
existence for somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000 years. For the sake of argument let’s assume that around
150,000 years is the correct number. It
is widely accepted that human beings have been farming in one way or another
for more than 10,000 years.
According to www.xtimeline.com
experiments with chemical fertilizers began sometime in the early 1800’s and
industrial farming also known as conventional farming came to life sometime
around 1900 and genetically modified crops became available for public
consumption in 1996.
Organic: 3 a (1) : of,
relating to, or derived from living organisms <organic
evolution> (2)
: of,
relating to, yielding, or involving the use of food produced with the use of
feed or fertilizer of plant or animal origin without employment of chemically
formulated fertilizers, growth stimulants, antibiotics, or pesticides (Source: Webster’s Online Dictionary)
Based on the definition above it is safe to assume that at
least 9,800 years of the 10,000 years that humans have been farming has been
organic in nature or 98% of the time that we have been farming has been solely
organic. Further, the 140,000 years
prior to the known farming history would have consisted of “wild harvesting”
which takes organic to an even higher level.
Isn’t organic the more traditional way of raising crops and livestock?
With these things in mind I am troubled by Representative
Scott’s words. What kind of person shops
for organic foods but defends chemically grown and genetically modified
foods? Is the organic movement
disrespectful or is the “conventional” way of thinking more disrespectful? I will leave that up to the reader to decide.
Sources:
© 2013 Richard E. Robinson
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