Suppose we raised organic kids like they do organic cows. The slick marketers of organic goods will feed you all this stuff about better for the earth, (which considering that it takes more ground to grow organic stuff, seems like a bunch of bull hockey), etc. but what about the animals involved?
Organic cows do not get treated with antibiotics when they are sick. Their owners rely on topical, herbal, or homeopathic remedies. If cows don't respond to those treatments they die or are sold to someone who does use conventional medicine to treat them or sold for beef. (That's why they call farms like ours conventional...we do things the way regular people do.)
So suppose your "organic" little human comes down with a desperate case of pneumonia or some other serious bacterial illness, needs intensive care, and a conventional antibiotic, then what? Do you treat him with a herbal supplement...or do you sell him to the neighbor who feels it appropriate to treat children...or cows....with modern, tested, legal, safe medicines?
I know which way I would go, but then I am kind of conventional.
I try not to bash any kind of farming here on Northview, as there are far too few of us farmers left not to stick together. However, I am just plain sick of having organic dairy farming shoved in my face everywhere I look, as if it were the only answer to food production. I KNOW what happens to cows on organic farms that get sick. And if you have a pet dog or cat, you know that even the best cared for animals DO get sick sometimes.......I would love to give you a quote on the topic from a trusted professional in the animal medical field with whom we regularly do business on what they think of the care of organic cattle but I don't have permission so I won't.
However, we wouldn't think of expecting our children to get along in the modern world without modern medicine, so why do we act as if asking the same of dairy cows is practically a religious duty?
Every single farmer's bulk tank is tested for antibiotic residues every single time the truck from the company picks up milk. If there is a positive finding the FARMER pays for the whole tanker load of milk...not cheap! So there are no antibiotics in your milk no matter what kind of farm produces it.
If you want to pay through the nose for organic products, which are generally chemically indistinguishable from conventional products, have at it, but you might want to think about the cows involved.
And by the way...most of the organic tomatoes, peppers etc. in grocery stores are being imported from Mexico right now. I wonder if they are as stringent with their organic guidelines as they are with their drug laws.....
ReplyDeletewell said. I too am tired of the organic movement. I sell at a Farmers Market and the Amish get most of the business since they are perceived as organic. There is no way to really really know what is organic! It is difficult to raise vegetables that are perfect and beautiful and raise them totally organic, sometimes yes but not always. linda
ReplyDeleteVery well said. I'm always amused that the movement chose the term organic. I was taught that that referred to anything with a carbon base.
ReplyDeleteYes, well said - and it's something that needs to be said.
ReplyDeleteMy sister worked on an organic dairy farm, and she was just sick at how the cows sometimes suffered.
I had read that some organic baby food was full of little insect parts.
I hear ya and you are singing a true tune. Keep on walkin' tall.
ReplyDelete- Bill
Excellent points. I think Organic is yet another scam that some people buy into.
ReplyDeleteI think it all boils down to common sense instead of stupidity....and there's a lot of people that just DON'T have it anymore. Why watch something suffer when you can do something to help!
ReplyDeleteGood post! I think Linda is right, there is no common sense anymore and unfortunately there are too many people getting into farming now with rose colored glasses on. Our neighbor absolutely will not feed his 3 dairy cows any grain because he is selling raw milk in PDX for $12.00 bucks a gallon, and his customers want milk from grassfed cows. The last time I checked there is no grass, and his cows are hungry! He chastises me for feeding non-organic grain to my heifer, who is doing just fine thank you on non-organic grain and hay. As a side note, another neighbor and I split an order of chicks this spring, she fed organic, I didn't because the price difference was too much for my pocketbook - long story short, my pullets began laying right on schedule and her's did until she bought some different feed. Organic is not the end-all. I'm glad I didn't pay twice as much for my feed...
ReplyDeleteAnd concerning insect parts in food, it's in all food, the food lab where I work occasionally tests food all the time for insects, rodent hair, fibers, and "light filth." They also do pesticide testing for organics, both soil and food, it's a real eye opener. Big companies that I will not mention, (we're talking CA)will have pesticide residues done for organic baby food, and if the levels exceed the standards, it goes into the regular baby food or for soups, juices etc.
There is no real answer. Organics here have run their course, the prices are the same for most items.
They've shoved the organic produce right up front in our Krogers.
ReplyDeleteI run - run past it.
Bring on the chemicals. I want wholesome food at a reasonable price.
Good post! I would also rather drink milk from healthy cows rather than those with high SCC counts due to sickness. It's amazing that the public think regular milk has antibiotics in it. In our area there was a silo of "organic" milk that had to dumped due to a load of antibiotic milk! Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteAMEN!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe problem with Ag today s that we have to teach and re-teach all these people who should all know this from visiting their grandparents, aunt or uncle, on the farm. But face it, most no longer have any grand parent, aunts or uncles on the farm!
I do my best to educate those who don't know about our life. Somebody has to do it!
Keep putting out there. Maybe some will learn.
HEAR HEAR Well said!!! Very well said!
ReplyDeleteLinda
http://coloradofarmlife@wordpress.com
Don't even get me started down the organic vs non-organic road.
ReplyDeleteJust last week while looking for a bargin in the meat department in Sprouts Farmer's Market, dippy-looking middle age guy beside me asks, "Is this a good price for organic chicken? I just went back to eating organic". "No way in hell would I pay $6.99/lb for chicken legs" was my reply. End of conversation!
Media, marketing,& money have driven organics. Sense isn't common . . .
Great post, Threecollie!
Linda, oooh, don't get me started on Amish foods and vegetables! They sell their "home-baked" goods like they were the only ones who know how to cook, yet they buy out all the cake and cookie mixes at the local store to make them...I could go on and on.
ReplyDeleteDani, I try to stay offa the darned soap box but sometimes it is plumb magnetic!
Anne, oh, yeah! That is what we learned in school too, oddly enough. lol
NW, so many appalling stories out there among the farmers, but they sure don't make it to the NYT. And as Linda said, because there is really no difference in the end product there is no way to measure if folks are cheating.
Bill, thank you so much! This is a real hot button with me, as people with whom we are forced to do business every day, ring the organic bell for all their Pavlovian followers at meetings we attend and if we want to keep doing what we do we have to sit down and shut up....which is really not my style.
Jan, you betcha! An expensive and for the most part pointless scam.
Linda, common sense, as hard to find as gold these days...
Nita, oh, my, those poor cows! People listen to the hype and have no idea what goes on behind the scenes. thank you so much for your well-informed comment! Our grocery stores allow over-priced organic foods to crowd conventional stuff off the shelf, leaving limited choices and high prices for those who would prefer not to pay so much for so little actual value.
Cathy, same here! Whole sections of food aisles are filled with organic stuff at twice or three times the price of regular food. The FDA is more than zealous about the safety off conventional foods and I am much, much, more concerned about imported products from unregulated countries than what is produced here. The orange juice hoopla going on now is just one example. Buy American juice and the problem is gone as the chemical isn't allowed here.
moomama, funny thing that! I have heard the same thing from people who KNOW...milk truck drivers and such. It is plumb crazy.
JB, it is sure an uphill battle and I applaud people who take time to try to educate consumers, even one at a time in line at the grocery store. With the very president of the nation growing organic vegetables on the White House lawn, it is probably a losing battle but.....
Linda, thank you. I try to behave but sometimes I just can't/.
Nurse Joan, marketing! You betcha, and I might not mind as much if they didn't grab their market share by reviling conventional farming practices, but that is just what they do. I sat at a meeting of an organization to which we have to belong and listened to a high ranking official talk about how they had to keep informing those "mothers" of the virtues of organic production....cause they care about the kiddies you know....I almost lost my expensive dinner and wanted to walk right out. And thanks.
My mom is one smart cookie...
ReplyDelete