Share The Seeds
General and Off Topic => General Discussion => Topic started by: MadPlanter on November 22, 2013, 04:26:26 AM
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It is surprising to see who owns your favorite organic products. I would imagine a good portion of the so called bad organic companies produce legitimate organic products but the fact is some companies are a complete farce. This is incredibly disturbing as is but if the products aren't even legitimate that is a way more sinister reality. I bring this up here for many reasons. Perhaps mostly because a good portion of people here are at least semi into organics and health and are sometimes even so much so they grow their own food and are vegan. I'll let the reading do most of the talking but this is a major flaw of the system in general and it must be corrected immediately. What good are the laws behind the labels if the organizations behind their integrity are not doing nearly a sufficient job. The people most to call out are those at the FDA, USDA, etc. Mega corps just want money end of story no matter their effect but the government is supposed to keep an eye on things...do it bitches!
http://www.cornucopia.org/who-owns-organic/
The organic consumers association website has a bunch more useful info on this as well as much more.
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I have worked on several "certified organic" farms over the years, both good and bad.
The little guys were always very cool (but broke so the pay was crappy), unfortunately the big players were just like any other big business.
Dodgy as.
Strawberry farms used prohibited fungicides, the banana farms used prohibited systemic beetle borer sprays(with no withholding, even though it was 2months by law), and the pineapple farms used a mix of blue copper sulphate and etheral in a dip, to ripen for market quicker, and stop mold forming on the fruit.
I'm not sure if that's 100% against the rules, but its definitely immoral, and not in the true spirit of "organics".
That's why I have never bothered paying the big bucks for the "certification".
Its just a meaningless bribe IMO like the "Heart foundation" or the "Australian made logo".
If you didn't grow it, your a fool thinking you know what's in it.
The Strawberries were sprayed only when "needed", normally only in hot summers or after frost damage, and by short term backpackers for cash.
The banana blocks with borer was cash again on the weekends, and the pineapple we were told its just like a soap/sanitizer to wash the fruit.
Peeled my skin around the fingernails and was itchy as when sorting topping and packing.
The farms submit soil samples/cores from areas of the farm that are not sprayed and tests are not very accurate anyway.
If there is an area they want to keep inspectors or council or Coles/Woolworths visitors off, they just send in a picking crew down to that patch for the day till the visitor leaves and say to them>
"Sorry we cant let down there at the moment due to Occupational health and Safety legislation. Its just too dangerous with the guys working at the moment, and the insurance company would have a fit. We can have a look over here at the Blah Blah Blah though"
lol.
Seen that old line to heaps of suits over the years, and its is actually in the legislation.
And the 2x a year "random inspections", exactly every months sort of defeats the purpose.
Its exactly every 6months, so even a dumb farmer can work that out.....
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Ya man doesn't really sound reassuring there. I wish I could grow my own everything but I can't yet unfortunately. I want to and will someday! I do grow quite a bit though as is but don't have room for super immense variety. We will get this mess all sorted out. The universe has its way of weeding out the bad on its own terms. Monsanto's seeds are the seeds of their own undoing!
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Imho, as far as usda organic goes (i dont know about the others), the usda organic certified farmers could legitimately spray, or whatev, things like gibberelins, cytokinins, auxins, ethylene gas, etc. because its "natural" plant hormones (i mean it is natural, but who knows the effects of eating such an increase of these "natural" hormones. Also, beefing up the produce with hormones generally means that they arent beefed up with quality soil, minerals, microorganisms, etc. imo).
However, i would much rather support usda organic than any other commercial non organic deal. True, it may be sprayed with things that arent suppossed to be on usda organic crops; also they probably are sprayed with "natural" plant hormones.
But...
The main reason i would rather support the usda organic is to help create more of a demand for organic produce, and to not increase the demand of the commercial non organic produce. I know a commercial supply of true organic produce is a ways off in time, but supporting the closest thing to it nowadays is a great way to bring a supply of true organic produce closer to the present.
Although, organic gardens in your back yard are always better :P
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Yeah for sure, certified organic is much better, both for the environment, the workers, and the end consumer. (in general)
But, just like everything in life, a certificate is necessarily a guarantee of safety when there is big $ involved.
Tarnishes the who thing for me really, and the expense of registration is huge over here, so only the big farms can really justify it.
Bigger the farm, the more expenses and financial pressure, and therefore temptation to cheat.
That's why there is a high % of folks working around the rules when nature doesn't co-operate as predicted, and there is big $ invested in crops they cant afford to lose.
Also, when they use a chemical that they are not meant to, there is no record of its use, and no warning to the staff(where the would be "in theory" on a normal farm) or to the end consumer.
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There are some family or independent owned companies that still exist too. A few to mention that are really of top quality are eden, Amy's kitchen, natures path, Annie's homegrown, degree one, and a few others. I guess its best to grow or produce as much as you can yourself and then try only to help out the better companies if you absolutely have too. I can't wrap my head around buying silk or horizon anymore. Its all bs.
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I buy a lot of Amy's products, and Annie's as well. They make some pretty good frozen vegetarian/organic meals that you can cook in the oven pretty fast.
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Haha, slightly off topic but....
Yesterday at work one of my co-workers was showing me around...we got to this freezer and she said 'these are amy's products'..
I was like who the hell is amy?! Thinking she meant that only one girl came in and bought them or something. lmfao...
ah, anyways...back on track..
I work in a place where its all very rich people so I'd say its safe to say that those amy products are good stuff.
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This is a good article to show the money they've made off honest consumers wanting good products that were deliberately deceived by big biz and they get off basically free.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_9075.cfm