Sunday, December 16, 2007

Define "Organic" ?

According to this story, some people are peddling milk that isn't organic.

I have to admit- I don't understand what "organic" means, except from my short career in Chemistry, and a somewhat broader exposure to the concept in Biology. I understand organic compounds to be: those comprising some combination of C,H,O,N (Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen) with the occasional incorporation of atoms of such elements as Sulfur or Iron.
Ever since the unfortunate adoption of the word "organic" by those who theorize that foods produced in a certain manner are more "foodlike" or "less poisonous" than others, I've yet to see any simple, concise definition of "organic foods" ....which, I submit, should be rendered as some sort of phrase when applied in this manner (....or "organic sustenance, organic chow"), and not merely as the modifier "organic," which, as I have noted, is already taken.
What I'm getting at, and where the confusing "middle part" comes in, is that a molecule of glucose is an organic compound, and it is just as much glucose in sugar cane that is raised "inorganically" as some that is raised "organically." The article linked above does nothing to remove the murkiness from the concept of "organic food." It appears that it revolves around a bunch of rather hard to define conditions, e.g., whether (and how much?) milk cows get their sustenance from pasture, as opposed to food. But if their food is just dried baled grass from those same pastures, does it qualify? And then there's the fact that the brand of "organic" has been around long enough, and enough people seek it out, that it's become a battle of the food interests- but I'm not going there.
I admit that I've a very dubious outlook on the whole idea of "organic food" as it's been presented and marketed so far. The best I can say is that I'm looking for more light, and less heat. "Free-range light," naturally.....

1 comment:

JA3 said...

You're probably just being pedantic for the hell of it, but if you weren't, you could type "organic" into Google:

Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation.

And if you wonder why someone might prefer such produce, ask yourself why you made your kids stay indoors whenever you did your pesticide spraying?

I don't even remember what you were spraying. Of course, how could I? You made us stay inside.