"Initial reaction to the Gaia hypothesis was not overly enthusiastic. Or rather, in respects, initial reaction was even worse than that, because the theory was enthusiastically embraced by the wrong people—joss-stick-burning, Eastern-religion-embracing, herb-consuming (eaten and smoked), Birkenstock-wearing, now-aging hippies and New Agers."-- Michael Ruse, exposing the nuts in the early environmental movement of the '60's and '70's - NewAgers AKA "the wrong people" - who, cartoon-like, imagined this violent earth as their all-embracing mother, becoming a joke to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
"If it’s not more healthy or time-and labour-efficient, what is the continuing attraction of organic food for certain people? The really important thing is that organic sounds more ‘natural’. Eating organic is a way of defining oneself as natural, good, caring, different to the McDonald’s-scoffing masses. As Mark Smith, writing in the Herald (Glasgow) today, puts it: ‘There is something more intuitive going on when I choose organic, something that’s important but hard to pin down in a report full of appendices and flow charts: organic food feels closer to the source, the beginning, the start of things.’ The real desire is to be somehow close to the soil, to Mother Nature, to Gaia, or whatever you want to call it."-- Rob Lyons, speaking with "the wrong people" today - the joke's children - now with such an all-consuming snobbery they deserve to have their heads Spiked!.
Believe it or not (despite my admittedly crass take on titling this post) these are two very-good articles - especially the first one - explaining the history, and weakness, of the "Gaia Theory" throughout history, starting back in the days of Aristotle. The second is a an expose' on the weaknesses of the Organic Food Movement, and how stuck-up it's NewAge followers are.
Namaste, Bitches.
Funny how it never occurs to 'em to make this Gaia, y'know, ATTRACTIVE? I didn't realize "hippy" had actual meaning here.
ReplyDeleteBTW, Crack Emcee, I commented on that horrible post with the black woman with half her scalp torn off, but haven't seen if you've seen it. Wassup with that? You work some Godawful imagery on these here interwebs.
It's true that some people tout organic foods because they're snobbish or believe it brings them closer to Gaia. However,mostly people eat organic food because it isn't sprayed with pesticides and because they know the source (growing vege's in your own backyard is often 'organic')
ReplyDeleteAlso, because commercial vegetables are grown to last longer, there can be a sacrifice in taste.
These are practical considerations and you don't need to wear cheesecloth to be persuaded. I should also note that not everyone who eats some or all organic produce, is necessarily condemnatory about others who don't.
Then there are the hobby gardeners who keep certain varieties of vegetables going that are not produced commercially because they 'look funny' or are trickier to grow. This is too harmless to get up in arms about, unless you think you're "robbing" commercial growers of revenue. Freedom of choice.
(GM food is a whole 'nother monster, of course.)
Actually, Grow Your Own, organic food is not fundamentally any better in any way than non-organic food. The difference has nothing to do with the organic label. And you'd be surprised; organic foods are most certainly sprayed with pesticides. They're just restricted to "organic" pesticides (which usually means "unrefined", which means they need to apply more of it to make it effective).
ReplyDeleteAs far as flavor differences go, this also has nothing to do with organic methods. I grow veggies myself; they're not organic, because I use synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. (I'm not a big fan of spreading cow manure where my kids will be playing.) They are tastier than the ones in the store, mostly because they're fresher.
If you want to maximize flavor, go for hand-picked cultivars (most of the flavor losses in commercially grown foods have to do with breeding them to tolerate machine harvesting; nowhere is this more true than in strawberries) or go for less common cultivars. Be advised that there may be a reason it's less common, and it isn't always aesthetics; sometimes those varieties are more vulnerable to disease, and even organic growers may abandon them if the crop losses are excessive. Also, going local wherever possible is helpful, because then you can get food which was ripened on the plant rather than shelf-ripened. The latter isn't really bad, but is necessary if it's going to be shipped a long ways. (Unripe foods usually travel a lot better. Organic or otherwise.) Obviously in the winter you may not have this option.
I do agree, Grow Your Own, that most organic food eaters aren't hippie wackos trying to get in tune with Mother Earth. Most are under the mistaken impression that organic food is in some way superior, or is more sustainable. Unfortunately, both perceptions are false. Organic methods are inferior to conventional farming methods, in every way. The only reason some organic foods taste better is because they are either fresher (as in the case of buying from a farmer's market) or a less common cultivar. It's not the organic methods that make the difference.
Nichevo,
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you (Takes a bow) you're too kind.
I don't remember where I got that from. I pick a topic at random, say "cocksuckers", and then see what I find that interests me, artistically. Then, after I write something (or find a column online that I find worthwhile) that's totally unrelated, I see what'll "emotionally" match up. You know, just what "works". Since I don't know what I'ma find out there - or where - it's more fun, rather than by tediously searching for something to explitsitely (sp?) spell the ideas out for you. Despite the blog's popularity - and it's numbers are going up all the time, with even a few donations, now and then - I get tired, so finding ways to keep me interested, and focused, are an imperative. I can't stop, so feeling it's becoming work is like death, y'know?
Suggest you learn to write/spell/use grammar correctly, etc, if you are going to make such strong claims in public. In my opinion you need to get the hell outta the Right as well. Like the world needs another bigmouth bigot. Where's the love? Staying in your negative bubble is only gonna keep you down, ultimately.
ReplyDelete@Calli Arcale - your facts about Organic Gardening are just plain wrong - at least where I live.