[Dirty Martini]

The next Business Week coming out has its main feature on organics.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine...ndex_companies

Some of the interesting things I got from the article:

Quote:

So it may come as a surprise that Stonyfield's organic farm is long gone. Its main facility is a state-of-the-art industrial plant just off the airport strip in Londonderry, N.H., where it handles milk from other farms. And consider this: Sometime soon a portion of the milk used to make that organic yogurt may be taken from a chemical-free cow in New Zealand, powdered, and then shipped to the U.S. True, Stonyfield still cleaves to its organic heritage. For Chairman and CEO Gary Hirshberg, though, shipping milk powder 9,000 miles across the planet is the price you pay to conquer the supermarket dairy aisle.

Quote:

Organic farmers say they can ultimately exceed the yields of conventional rivals through smarter soil management. But some believe organic farming, if it is to stay true to its principles, would require vastly more land and resources than is currently being used. Asks Alex Avery, a research director at the Hudson Institute think tank: "How much Bambi habitat do you want to plow down?"

Quote:

Exhibit A: Gary Hirshberg's quest for organic milk. Dairy producers estimate that demand for organic milk is at least twice the current available supply. To quench this thirst, the U.S. would have to more than double the number of organic cows -- those that eat only organic food -- to 280,000 over the next five years. That's a challenge, since the number of dairy farms has shrunk to 60,000, from 334,000 in 1980, according to the National Milk Producers Federation. And almost half the milk produced in the U.S. comes from farms with more than 500 cows, something organic advocates rarely support.

Quote:

But what gets people like Kastel fuming is the fact that big dairy farms produce tons of pollution in the form of manure and methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide -- gases blamed for warming the planet. Referring to Horizon's Idaho farm, he adds: "This area is in perpetual drought. You need to pump water constantly to grow pasture. That's not organic."

 

[Ludi]

"Organic farmers say they can ultimately exceed the yields of conventional rivals through smarter soil management. But some believe organic farming, if it is to stay true to its principles, would require vastly more land and resources than is currently being used. Asks Alex Avery, a research director at the Hudson Institute think tank: "How much Bambi habitat do you want to plow down?""

That one is actually quite false. See "Biointensive" and "permaculture" farming. Both of which provide yields far in excess of chemical monoculture.

But hey, you can believe whatever you wanna believe....

 

[troub]

Quote:

the U.S. would have to more than double the number of organic cows -- those that eat only organic food -- to 280,000 over the next five years.

vegan milks use zero cows, are easier on the environment and are healthier to consume.

if any of that was a concern, people could always... oh i dunno... quit sucking the cow tits.

 

[Ludi]

Yep, you'd think if people were serious about health and environmental issues they'd choose to avoid animal products, which would solve the demand problem for sure.

 

[Dirty Martini]

First, we'd have to completely re-vamp our health education in this country. Seems most people believe you have to have meat & dairy to be healthy (protein & calcium). Not that they just "like it" but that we're raised to believe that it's essential to health.

that's not easy.

 

[Ludi]

If people can become educated about the differences between organic and conventional production, they can probably become educated about the benefits of avoiding animal products...but I agree, it's a matter of education. Interest in organic is a start, and I think leads potentially many people to ultimately choose vegetarian or near-vegetarian diets, if they are seriously interested in health and protecting the environment.