We asked three straightforward questions about the integrity of the organic certification process. Program officials refused to answer them. It seems clear that this agency is less of a regulatory body and more of a taxpayer-funded cheerleading squad. It should be eliminated.
Organic Food
Some studies are so incredibly stupid, one wonders how they get published in any scientific journal, let alone a prestigious one. And yet, it's happened once again. A new study in JAMA Internal Medicine claims that eating organic food will reduce a person's risk of developing cancer. You got it right: Magic prevents cancer.
People want to do what makes them feel good and – perhaps more importantly – makes them look righteous in the eyes of others. Going organic and avoiding straws accomplishes that moral grandstanding, and companies are happy to oblige in order to make a buck. And, in the process, the companies also look good. It's a win-win for everyone, except Mother Earth.
A new study in Nature Sustainability confirms what we've been saying for a long time: Organic farms produce fewer crops and are worse for the environment. Don't build more of them.
Given the thoroughly unscientific and litigious milieu in which we live, companies find themselves scrambling to appease the uneducated Twitter mob and apologizing for being in business. That's why it's such a breath of fresh air when a company stands up to the hysteria and gives a full-throated endorsement of science.
The Organic Consumers Association, which promotes conspiracy theories about 9/11, chemtrails, and FEMA, is pushing another one: Pesticides cause school shootings.
One of the worst junk science trends in recent years is for grocery stores and restaurants to claim that they serve "clean food." Obviously, the not-so-subtle message is that everybody else is serving poison, so to be safe, you better eat their food. It's well past time to put aside the snobbish notion that eating clean, local, organic food makes you a superior, healthier human.
Like an Obama birther, the Times' Eric Lipton will continue spouting conspiracy theories about the biotech and chemical industries despite the evidence. This will ensure that his boss's wife, who serves on the board of Whole Foods, remains wealthy.
The reality is simple: In the developed world, you have very little to fear. We live our lives in good health and safety, and much of that is attributable to the wonderful advances of science and technology.
The New York Times smeared a company at the request of an organic food lobby. Instead of behaving like responsible, skeptical journalists they chose to act like a PR firm. Such is the state of affairs at America's self-appointed "Paper of Record."
John Mackey of Whole Foods, which sells products at a 45% markup over other stores by claiming that its food is cleaner and healthier and holier, is adorably complaining about investor greed and propaganda.
By demonizing biotechnology and conventional agriculture, Whole Foods has profited handsomely. But with its recent financial struggles, it would be nice if the sales downturn was the result of Americans waking up to the fact that the chain has been lying to them for years.