Food

It's fall here in New England -- harvest time.  The tomatoes are ripe, just ahead of the frost; the apples are getting ready to become cider and pie; the farm stands are full of pumpkins so you can buy them now, watch them spoil, and buy new ones before Halloween.

Many of those fall fruits and vegetables come from organic farms.  Organic farming has become a huge industry, and grocery chains like Whole Foods Market have become giant companies in their own right by selling organic produce to consumers concerned about their health and preserving the planet.

But . . .

Organic farming may not be as good for your health or the planet as you might think.  Australian science writer Elizabeth Finkel has written a pretty damning article about how organic farming methods aren't as good for the environment as the latest in high-tech conventional farming.

Finkel briefly touches on how organic farming has taken on some aspects of a secular religion, but the fearless Brian Dunning at the Evil Skeptoid Debunkatron has waded a bit deeper into that aspect, debunking myths about organic and conventional farming.

To a very great extent, the whole premise of organic farming is based on a fallacy:  that what is "natural" is somehow superior to what is not.  This is known as the "Appeal to Nature" and is, quite simply, illogical.  Sometimes what is natural is better, sometimes it isn't.

Regarding food, natural definitely isn't always better.  Here's food maven Jeffrey Steingarten explaining how salad can kill you.

So, now that it's harvest time, hit those farmers' markets and farm stands for some of that agricultural bounty -- a joint production of Nature and Science.

Comments

[ghjl]

SALAD CANT KILLU DUMASS