[Eco] Organic milk and meat worse for the environment?

[Rebecca Stallings]

Alison, where are you with helpful explanations about plants?  I've 
never even taken a real biology course (the only one I had was taught by 
the wrestling coach!) and am relying on my recollection of assorted 
articles here.

Jonathan wrote:
 >It seems like people that are into organics are against GM foods as a
 >concept, even though they make food better and more affordable.

Holding an overall belief that "GM foods are scary and dangerous" is no 
more misinformed than holding an overall belief that "GM foods are 
better and more affordable."  There is some evidence for and against 
both points of view.  Some of the most heavily marketed GM crops (like 
Monsanto's Roundup Ready corn and soybeans) have not performed anywhere 
near as well as advertised, in terms of crop yields or ease of growing 
or nutritional content.

Many many advances in plants' food production, nutritional content, 
hardiness, disease resistance, etc. have been accomplished through 
selective breeding.  I have no objection to that.  Genetic modification 
involving laboratory insertion of genes from totally unrelated species 
is another matter.  The possible ramifications are just so hard to 
predict, and some unpredicted ones have already caused trouble.

 >But [organics] will never be able to be as cheap as conventionally
 >grown products. It take more land and more resources to make organics.

Depends on what you mean by "resources".  Organics take more labor (i.e. 
create jobs) but how else do they use more resources or more land? 
Don't forget to take into account the manufacture of, transportation of, 
and pollution caused by the chemicals applied to conventional crops.

 >I'm generally referring to poor people all over the world who are
 >much worse off than the American poor.  People in impoverished
 >countries and such.

Many of whom have been ripped off by American companies selling them 
"improved" seeds that grow one generation of plants that produce no 
viable seeds for the next year's planting, so that the poor people have 
to buy new seeds every year.  Quite the scam!  Maximizes shareholder 
profit, you know, and that's good for "our" economy.

And by the way, in those impoverished countries organic farming is much 
more the norm than it is here.  Many of the poorest people in less 
"civilized" countries grow their own organic gardens.  Access to 
vegetables generally is not their nutritional problem; it's access to 
adequate protein or adequate total calories.

 >(Though even if I were talking about the poor in industrialized
 >countries, would you really want to put another barrier in front of
 >them to eating vegetables?)

No, but as I said before, I don't think that the production cost of 
vegetables is the crucial factor there.  Furthermore, given the high 
accumulations of chemicals in the bodies of America's poorest children, 
I think they're among the people who most need organic food.
		---'Becca