Deconstructing onions
Two things from The World — a radio program co-produced by PRI, the BBC, and the not-to-be-trifled with WGBH Boston, in a segment about new EU rules for pesticides:
First, an organic farmer in France (?) saying that she considered pesticides to be “basically poison”.
Uh, yeah. They are pesticides. For killing pests. Animals. Poisoning animals. Hello?
And, more fun — a conventional farmer from the environs of Leeds, who claimed (this will be a fairly close paraphrase)
Broccoli, cauliflower, onions, carrots, and numerous other crops simply could not be grown in England without the use of pesticides. We would be unable to provide the quality, healthy produce at the prices British customers currently enjoy without these chemicals.
Let’s take that one slowly, starting in the middle. Quality? OK, I’m with you. The loss from bug-eaten organic produce can be rather large, and providing the partially-consumed produce to grocers (rather than composting it) would result in lower quality. Low-priced? Definitely with you. Loss = lower output = higher prices. This is your argument here. But healthy (presumably meaning healthful)? Come on. You are telling me, albeit in a sound bite, that not spraying vegetables with pesticides would result in more toxic food?
Let’s go back to the beginning. One could not grow brassicae, allia, and — um — carrots (?) in England without pesticides? Pretty sure Queen Elizabeth I ate those products. Pretty damn sure they weren’t imported from Portugal.
Organic farming, on a global scale, may not make sense. I’ve read arguments on both sides. Some argue that output, with current methods, could not produce the amount of food currently generated, which is in turn not enough to feed the world. Others pounce on this later claim, and say that if food production was sustainable and local, rather than shipping things all over the world, the population of could be fed (no, not going to chase down links.) But, in a theme that arises plentifully on this blog, you’ve got to fight fair. Pesticides are poisons. Carrots can be grown in England without chemicals. Your bottom line will be impacted. Let’s start there.
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March 21st, 2009 at 07h04
I don’t think that pesticides are healthy, but we have to admit that they definitely increase the amount of usable product. And considering how many people are without food, I think we’d hate to cut down on production.
March 21st, 2009 at 08h56
Yes, granted, but I have a couple of reservations. I don’t have the figures in front of me, but I have read that the amount of land currently farmed is sufficient to feed the world, especially if luxury foods such as grain-fed cattle and soy-fed pigs are eliminated (sorry, Crystal, that might spell the end for your “perfect hamburger” hunt.)
The biggest problem is efficient transport. Long-distance transport not only has a large carbon footprint; it also increases pollution in other ways and, critically, increases the foods’ costs. I also suspect, although I cannot prove, that more food spoilage occurs in transport than from pests.
Again, I’d like to see strong numbers of what would happen if every homeowner in the world had a “Victory Garden” of sorts out back, wherein they would grow staples, vegetables, etc. in all applicable seasons (shorter for you, Crystal, than for me!) People have arable land and use it for lawn grass, and the greatest amount of that biomass is sent to landfills. Even if it’s composted, it doesn’t compost well. Inexcusable. I’d suggest planting veggie gardens in one’s front lawn, but — and this shows what a sorry state we’re in, at least in SoCal — this would be frowned upon and make the homeowner embarrassed (if the homeowner cared what other people thought) or, perniciously, be illegal in some communities.
So if we grow a large chunk of our own food (literally) in our own backyards, buy most of the rest (figuratively) in our own backyards, and export (even for free) most of our corn, wheat, and soy to countries that literally cannot grow food, could we feed the whole world? Yes. Could we feed the whole world if all of this were organic? I don’t know. But I expect we could.
October 16th, 2009 at 10h22
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