B.S. And Organic Marketing - Figuratively and Literally
The large-scale Organic dairy cooperative, “Organic Valley” has just sunk to a new low in the practice of “I will market against my farmer neighbors by stoking consumer’s fears.” They announced that they have launched an on-line calculator that is supposed to show you how much pesticide and fertilizer use is avoided when you buy their products. The news release essentially boils down to the message, “buy our products or you will probably die!” It also essentially accuses the 97.5% of us who don’t buy Organic of destroying the planet.
When talking about pesticides the press report says: “For adults, exposure through diet has been linked to infertility, Parkinson’s, testicular cancer, birth defects and much more. More than one million children in America age five and under ingest at least 15 pesticides daily. Early exposures are suspected in the sharp rise in health problems including autism, obesity, asthma, brain cancer and other childhood cancers.” This broad-brush assertion is misleading on so many levels that it is hard to know where to start. I’m not saying that there have never been any health issues with any pesticide anywhere, but we also have sufficient food in part because of pesticides. Though many people don’t know it, there are pesticides used on organic crops as well. Actually, the EPA has done a very good job of regulating pesticide use over the years so that people don’t need to be frightened about their food.
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Perhaps it would be best to first point out that the generations of humans who have lived during the decades when synthetic pesticides have been used (from ~the 1940s on) are the healthiest and longest-lived of human history, so mass poisoning does not seem to have occurred. Even people like my generation who grew up in the 50s and 60s (when typical pesticides were far more dangerous than they are today) are doing better than those before us. Also, the fact that individual pesticides differ in toxicity by factors of several hundred is completely glossed-over. Actually the copper-based fungicides used in organic fruit and vegetable production are 10 times more toxic than typical modern pesticides that are themselves several times less toxic than table salt. A “calculator” that treats all pesticides the same fails to bring in any of this perspective. That fits the commercial interests of Organic Valley, but it does not contribute to a rational discussion about the risks and benefits of pesticide use.
The statements in the press release about fertilizers suggest that the writers actually don’t know how plant nutrition works. “Synthetic fertilizers contain forms of nitrogen that can break down into nitrates that threaten human health.” In fact all forms of fertilizer, including those used in Organic, turn into nitrate. It is a good thing they do because a plant can only take up the nitrogen critical for growth in the form of nitrate or ammonia. The fertilizers that the Organic Valley growers use (manure, compost, green manure crops) deliver nitrogen to plants in exactly the same chemical form as synthetic fertilizers. The main difference is that because some of the nitrogen is in biological forms, it turns into nitrate slowly over time. That isn’t necessarily a good thing at all. Since this process continues past the time when the crop is actively absorbing nitrate from the soil, that nitrate is more available for leaching into the water supply or washing into streams. It is also available longer to the soil bacteria that turn some of it into the potent greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide (310 times the global warming potential (GWP) of carbon dioxide). Studies show that more nitrous oxide is emitted from manured fields than from those conventionally fertilized. Manuring of fields also leads to substantial methane emissions (21x the GWP of carbon dioxide). The authors of this press release are probably not aware of this issue since they reference the Rodale institute - a group which recently published a white paper claiming that organic was a solution to climate change. This 9 page document failed to even mention either of these greenhouse gasses.
Nitrous oxide emissions and nitrate leaching are actually very challenging issues for all of agriculture, but they are issues that are actually more difficult to manage in Organic than in well-run conventional farming.
Unfortunately, this new form of “green washing” by Organic Valley will probably get some more people to buy their products, something they certainly want since sales of Organic dairy products have dropped quite a bit because of the recession. This is, of course, achieved by spreading misleading or even false information that degrades the reputation of other hard working and responsible farmers who actually feed the vast majority of us. It seems that manure isn’t only being spread on Organic Valley’s fields.
You are welcome to comment here or you can email me at feedback.sdsavage@gmail.com. Cow image from jrubinic
So you don’t agree that if you buy from corporations like Monsanto you are fueling the fire?
While I don’t believe in the practices Organic Valley is engaging in to up their profits; I find your angle on Organic is not better than conventional farming a bit misleading. There has been studies upon studies where Organic method has been a more sustainable and healthier way to be kinder to our planet and bodies. I mean why would all the environmentalists and scientists endorse this if it wasn’t so. We can cite sources of studies and findings that can dispute the facts but then who was the study funded by. Is it a credible source in first place? I find this piece a little bit too biased towards conventional farming methods and dismissing the benefits or Organic farming. I think it has been established that it is more environmentally friendly so I am not sure why this is on sustainablog.
We all know that in farming, some sort of pesticides are necessary and no one is disputing that use of pesticide, conventional or organic. And as a natural parenting mother, I can assure you; I tried both dairy products and I am not playing russian roulette with my daughter’s health while the government decides to put profit over health. I think this article does a great disservice to the Organic farming industry as whole and I am surprised this is even on sustainablog.
To Jimmy, I’m not sure what fire you are talking about, but Monsanto’s Bt corn and cotton have actually reduced pesticide use by orders of magnitude more than Organic Valley or even all of Organic will.
Jolly Green Girl, you said
“why would all the environmentalists and scientists endorse it.” That isn’t true at all. I’ve read hundreds of scientific journal articles that touch on sustainability in agriculture and they are full of findings that are not favorable for Organic. Organic is not fundamentally based on scientific principles. It was ahead of its time in terms of attention to soil health, but its limitations to “natural” fertilizers and mechanical tillage are highly problematic from an environmental point of view. Just because lots of people believe that Organic is better does not make it true. As for my bias, it is towards whatever system can feed the world with minimal environmental impact. If all our farms were being manured (which is impossible, there isn’t that much) it would be a disaster.
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The statement ‘why would all the environmentalists and scientists endorse it’ is a bit like the old tooth paste commercials - ‘9 out of 10 dentists recommend this product’. Both statements are gross fabrications!
Some portion of environmentalists (most of whom have no idea what they are talking about) and some minor portion of scientists endorse organic.
Like Steve pointed out, a very small percentage of the population buys organic.
This ‘natural parenting’ is beyond me as many of that group are against doctors, mainline medicine etc and then talk about taking good care of a child and family.
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Compared to conventionally farmed land, there is relatively little acreage being farmed organically, so with that in mind, what caused the dead zone in the Gulf? And it’s not just organic farms that produce manure; where do all the conventional farms - again, numbering many more than organic - put theirs? Also, “sufficient food” is not an issue in this country. In fact, nearly 50% of US grain crops go to waste, and think about how much food is wasted in restaurants and homes nationwide. We could do with producing a little less.
It’s not just about how ONE generation is “…the healthiest and longest-lived of human history…” despite pesticide use. It’s about the NEXT generation, and the next, and the next. I grew up in a state where aerial spraying was common and as children we were forced to spend days indoors because of the bad air, and we weren’t allowed to ride our bikes down certain roads because our parents were afraid we’d fall into the giant manure ponds, though we wouldn’t have ridden out there anyway because of the smell. Today, nearly 70% of that community’s children are overweight from not being allowed to play outdoors, or asthmatic and allergic because they did play outdoors. For the first time in history, a generation of children is expected to have a shorter average lifespan than their parents - those are your grandchildren, Mr. Savage. Obviously, there are many factors involved, but pesticides are very much a part of larger picture.
We’ve let the human/animal/planet health issue get huge and out of control and pesticides may be only one piece, but sometimes it’s only one thing that may turn out to be the tipping point for significant change. Kudos to Organic Valley for taking on *something* in an effort to effect positive change.
Gwen,
Of course conventional ag is what causes the dead zone in the gulf. As I said in the post, nitrate movement is a major issue for Ag. It is just that Organic does nothing to address that so Organic Valley’s claim to reduce the issue is specious.
Your concerns about childhood obesity etc are legitimate, but have nothing to do with conventional agriculture. Organic Valley has not in any way contributed to a meaningful discussion of any issue, only fear-based hocking of their own products
I am absolutely incredulous that a site supposedly about sustainability would promote genetically engineered crops over organically grown.