so i heard once that organic produce is so resource-intensive that the earth could not make enough to feed everyone in the world. and i thought, well that's a pretty sound argument for not buying organics - it's elitest.
of course, that only holds true with the current population. what it actually implies is that there's too many people in the world - and we all know that's true anyway. so by buying organic, you're actually helping create a downward pressure on the population that might reduce it to sustainable levels, in a way that's more environmentally friendly*.
why did it take me so long to figure out that organic produce was in keeping with my views, not against them?
*not necessarily true. e.g. organic milk always goes off faster in our fridge than normal stuff, which is wasteful. but i think this is compensated by the animal welfare benefits.
5 comments:
well hang on.. vandana shiva says that organic farming actually has a longterm higher yield than using monocultures and pesticides. so maybe the facts were wrong to begin with? she was very convincing:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=i5eMFU4r5usC&dq=the+violence+of+the+green+revolution&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=yYeNS4f5EIOb_Qam_uzpBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBAQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=&f=false
btw, that downward pressure you're talking about.. isn't that a pressure that causes the poorest people in the world to starve?
..and if you're milk is going off, aren't you just buying too much?
Um... a view that reduced the birthrate, I could understand. But a view that contributes to the death and misery of millions? Nonono. I think you must recognise that because you use the mealy-mouthed phrase "downward pressure on the population that might reduce it to sustainable levels" rather than "mass starvation".
We need to (xxdisincentivisexx) deter breeding to get the population down, like the one China policy - perhaps the days of benevolent dictatorships are returning.
point taken, but surely 'not having as much food' is a good way to disincentise population growth?
no, because rich people will always have too much food and poor people will never have enough
hilariously enough, the word verification is "ingestsu" ..i kid you not
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