Thursday, November 01, 2007

Paying more for organic or local is "dumb" according to Collin Peterson

From an MSNBC.com Financial Times Oct. 17, 2007 Collin Peterson, chairman of the House of Representatives agricultural committee, says the farm sector that raises organic produce and grass-fed beef for local consumers needs little federal help. "It is growing, and it has nothing to do with the government, and that is good," he told the FT. "For whatever reason, people are willing to pay two or three times as much for something that says 'organic' or 'local'. Far be it from me to understand what that's about, but that's reality. And if people are dumb enough to pay that much then hallelujah."

"For whatever reason" huh! Hm, I can think of a few:

- we don't want food laced with pesticides and herbicides
- we care abour our health
- we care about our plantet
- we care about the health and safety of our children
- we want to support farmers who grow sustainably
- organically grown food contains more nutrients
- local grown food tastes better because it's not bred to be shipped and stored
- we want to help combat global warming
- we want food that has not been genetically modified

Shall I go on?

3 comments:

The Little Mama said...

'For whatever reason'?! Wow. I guess he hasn't looked into the issue much.

Unknown said...

I hate to pay the high price for organic food too, but I do it for my family's health. What is the cost in the long run if we don't? Alas, I don't eat local unless its organic. Local organic is my ideal, but if local won't (or in some cases can't) provide organic, I'll buy shipped organic. I like to think this protects us from GMO's too....

Unknown said...

A lot of local growers actually grow organically but they just can't afford the certification process. The good thing about buying local is that you can talk to the farmers and find out about their growing methods and even visit their farms.

I'm also disturbed about the watering down of organic standards since big business has gotten involved. Many so-called organic products may have non-organic and even synthetic additives.

Some organic dairy producers like Horizon are actually in violation of organic rules because they don't allow their cows access to pasture.