The National Organic Trade Association (not to be confused with NATO) has come up with a hilarious spoof of Star Wars called Store Wars. You can watch it here. The young jedi hero is Cuke, his mentor is Obi Wan Cannoli, and the space buccaneer is Ham Solo... you get the picture. The movie is cute...
I am not a big fan of the "organic" food movement. Their claims about the superiority of "natural" food play on people's fears, and are rarely if ever based on science. For example, the organic preachers are against irradiation of food, but there is no evidence that it would be harmful, only FUD. Irradiation does, however, kill organisms that could cause disease of food is not cooked, cleaned, or stored properly--ironically a more common problem if people eat more fresh produce.
I see it as a way for some farmers to make better profits, and for some consumers to feel superior and in control. It is predominantly a upper class phenomenon in my area, as the organic stores target affluent consumers, selling higher priced food.
2 comments:
Dead on. Organic veggies, like hybrid cars, are a way that the pseudo wealthy can feel better about how they conduct themselves compared with the rest of us Visigoths.
I agree that lot of the "organic food" movement is about playing to people's fears. If people thought about it a while, they'd realize that many of these fears are just silly. The same people who are so afraid of radiation "spoiling" their food, come home and stick their food in the microwave :-) - go figure!!
Though I am hardly an organic food freak, I have to admit that there are a couple of things I like about organic food. First of all, it is pesticide free (that is one fear I admit to having). Of course food does not have to be organic to be pesticide-free but very often the two go together.
Second (and more important), I find that organic fruits and vegetables simply taste better. I am basing this on a comparison between my local grocery chain Safeway and a "health food" chain like Whole Foods. Once again, being organic has little to do with how good something tastes - it probably has more to do with growing food on a smaller scale rather than mass producing it. However organic and small scale farming seem to go together very often.
- HCE
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