Welcome to Organics Week! Let’s kick things off with some recent organics news:  

The Sacramento News reported that organic farms in California bought fertilizer treatment from a company offering greatly reduce rates, only to find out the company was using slipping something extra into its product. This company supplied about a third of the organic market in California with this fertilizer treatment laced with a synthetic additive banned at organic farms. Apparently, many organic produce from California in 2006 were not really organic, dispute being labeled USDA approved, but most of public were not aware until this past December.

I do not talk much about organic products and to be honest I do not buy many either, save for my organic honey. My opinions on organics is most likely an unpopular one (but when did that ever stop me?). Should less chemicals be used on livestock and produce? Yes, absolutely. My concerns, however, are more related to the environment implications than to my personal health.  

Call me a skeptic, but I feel most of this organic movement is simply a ploy to get people to pay higher prices for trendy products, no different than any other marketing campaign. I am not drawn to organic produce because I, like many others, question it origins and rightfully so as the article above demonstrates. I would much rather seek out local produce, organic or not. My other primary reason is cost, which lends credibility to my organics-as-a-trend theory. Organic food tends to be more expensive, which could be legitimate, but it seems to be disproportionate to other rising food costs.

Perhaps the populous is not ready to embrace organics, which is a shame. It is a concept that appears to be wonderful in theory, though does not seem to be doing so well in practice. I would like to say that I support organics, especially for its positive effects for the environment, but I have not quite crossed that bridge. It would appear that others have not either, as these scandals continue to appear in the organics market.

In order for organics to be successful, the people behind the product need to adhere to strict standards as well as high morals and values. Organics are not products that can or should be made without integrity, and when the time is right I am hopeful that this trend will evolve and develop into something much more substantial and sustainable: a lifestyle that all people, rich or poor, can enjoy.

Am I Bitter about organics? Not necessarily, but I do seem tremendous room for improvement.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 19th, 2009 at 5:05 am and is filed under Bitter/Sweet, Organics Week. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.