Several years ago, Penn & Teller did an episode of Bullsh**! that examined the claims made by organic food enthusiasts. (See a clip here.) Though they didn't conduct a publication quality scientific experiment, they showed (rather convincingly and quite hilariously) that the average food snob simply can't tell the difference between conventionally grown food and organic food.
Their prank has been replicated by others. In one video, two guys attended a foodie convention and presented guests with a new "organic" alternative to fast food. The guests went on and on about how wonderful it was, completely oblivious to the fact that they were eating chicken nuggets and other food from McDonald's.
At the very end of the video, they presented their conclusion (translated from Dutch): "If you tell people that something is organic, they'll automatically believe it's organic." Indeed.
Farmers Busted for Marketing Conventional Crops as Certified Organic
Three farmers in Nebraska just plead guilty to a food fraud scheme in which they were selling conventionally grown corn and soybeans as organic. They pulled off this scheme from 2010 to 2017 and made nearly $11 million in the process. How could they get away with it for so long?
For starters, nobody can tell the difference between conventional and organic food. It's not as if organic corn and soybeans look, smell, or taste differently compared to their conventional counterparts. So, the only way to catch food fraud is by doing a chemical analysis. In this case, the analysis would look for the presence of pesticides that are banned according to organic agriculture's (completely arbitrary) rules.
These rules are supposedly enforced by the National Organic Program (NOP), which is part of the USDA. Obviously, it isn't doing a particularly good job. According to the Washington Post:
"[T]he [organic food] system suffers from multiple weaknesses in enforcement: Farmers hire their own inspection companies; most inspections are announced days or weeks in advance and lack the element of surprise; and testing for pesticides is the exception rather than the rule."In other words, the USDA's policy is just to trust farmers and suppliers if they say their food is organic. As a result of such a lax attitude toward regulation, food fraud occurs, not just with homegrown crops but with imported ones, as well.
The organic industry is built upon a gigantic lie: that is, the notion that "natural" farming methods are safer and healthier while "unnatural" methods are dangerous. Worse, the organic industry perpetuates a myth that it does not use pesticides, when it absolutely does. It should surprise no one, therefore, that such a deceptive industry would attract its fair share of hucksters.
Reader Comments
There is no difference between organic and conventional food.
Both are being 'served' by organized crime, aka technocracy.
When you purchase either, you are purchasing another round of strip-searches and 'prison sex' (orchestrated violence) for yourself and for those who are of lower social status than you. Especially for those who are of a lower status, a more unfortunate status. Aren't you lucky?
Everything is designed now, to maximize plunder of the earth for the phoney and highly pretentious wealth and luxurious living style of the few. This is what technocracy/organized crime is, this is what technocracy/organized crime does and it does it, exclusively. Are you able to understand this?
Humans used to think of themselves as belonging to the earth and to each other, in family and community living arrangements. There was something to this, something called 'soul'.
This no longer true.
Everything belongs now, to the organized crime hierarchy. Everything is organized and subject to massive regulation, said 'regulation' doing only one thing: Maintaining the imbalance of ownership and control, as it now exists, maintaining this hierarchy of central power and command.
Now think of this:
Imagine you are a mother and you are watching your baby child getting raped. It is crying and screaming and living in fear and pain. More fear, more pain...more fear. More pain.
Earth and all its life, is God's child.
WHAT DO YOU THINK GOD WILL DO?
ned,
OUT
Some of the organic advocates are purely interested in profit. But there are others who genuinely advocate for building soil and instituting practices that lead to a higher quality of life. The Organic Consumer Association is one. Check them out.
1. money talks
2. said environment
It's just not possible to make "organic" crops. You can make as close as possible, but never as good as advertised, for yourself. But expecting to buy one? Stupid naivety.