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I wonder if organic food is any better. I recall reading they use much more "natural" pesticides on organic produce. Is growing your own stuff in a backyard I don't have really the only way to avoid pesticides?
Most of what I've seen has shown that it is indeed better, although not perfect. E.g. glyphosate is detectable in organic wine, but at much lower levels (5x?) compared to regular wine.
I wonder if organic food is any better. I recall reading they use much more "natural" pesticides on organic produce. Is growing your own stuff in a backyard I don't have really the only way to avoid pesticides?
Most of what I've seen has shown that it is indeed better, although not perfect. E.g. glyphosate is detectable in organic wine, but at much lower levels (5x?) compared to regular wine.
Whether total pesticide load (however you want to measure that) is higher or lower for organic vs conventional, varies widely with crop, location and farming method.
There are toxic organic pesticides like copper-based compounds that persist in the soil. And things like strawberry fields are fumigated with methyl bromide regardless of organic or conventional.
There is not perfect data on the harmfulness of many synthetic pesticides, so it's really hard to make a great judgment on whether it's worse or better for you - unless you have general faith that petroleum derived mystery cocktails are pretty much always going to be harmful.
It's all bad when it comes down to it, we should prefer something like permaculture.
Is it possible to grow enough food in your backyard to live off of (plus chickens as a yard waste disposal) if you also work full time? I can't even eat at a restaurant without knowing if they use organic produce.
Watched a great documentary on Netflix called `Stink!` that was about all the crap found in all sorts of products under the hidden phrase "fragrance" (or in some cases, "parfum"). All sorts of chemicals you've never heard of to make those garbage bags smell like apple orchards. Very informative and, if you're like me and are constantly panicked that everything's trying to kill you, I recommend it.
> Very informative and, if you're like me and are constantly panicked that everything's trying to kill you, I recommend it.
So are you saying this will help me STOP worrying that everything is trying to kill me? I'm kinda to the point where I feel like if you aren't eating organic broccoli for breakfast lunch and dinner, than you're killing yourself. So I'm not sure I need any MORE information to enforce that.
Is it possible to grow enough food in your backyard to live off of (plus chickens as a yard waste disposal) if you also work full time? I can't even eat at a restaurant without knowing if they use organic produce.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most of what I've seen has shown that it is indeed better, although not perfect. E.g. glyphosate is detectable in organic wine, but at much lower levels (5x?) compared to regular wine.
Glyphosate is not approved for organic use so that's an irrelevant point. Whether total pesticide load (however you want to measure that) is higher or lower for organic vs conventional, varies widely with crop, location and farming method. There are toxic organic pesticides like copper-based compounds that persist in the soil. And things like strawberry fields are fumigated with methyl bromide regardless of organic o…
Actually it is a pretty interesting point.
Is it possible to grow enough food in your backyard to live off of (plus chickens as a yard waste disposal) if you also work full time? I can't even eat at a restaurant without knowing if they use organic produce.
Now producing beans, rice or wheat is another matter. I don't think its possible without moving to your own farm
Watched a great documentary on Netflix called `Stink!` that was about all the crap found in all sorts of products under the hidden phrase "fragrance" (or in some cases, "parfum"). All sorts of chemicals you've never heard of to make those garbage bags smell like apple orchards. Very informative and, if you're like me and are constantly panicked that everything's trying to kill you, I recommend it.
Curious about this part: > Very informative and, if you're like me and are constantly panicked that everything's trying to kill you, I recommend it. So are you saying this will help me STOP worrying that everything is trying to kill me? I'm kinda to the point where I feel like if you aren't eating organic broccoli for breakfast lunch and dinner, than you're killing yourself. So I'm not sure I need any MORE informatio…
Regarding the broccoli, I'm right there with ya. `Stink!` won't help, but it's not super negative and will simply make you more aware.
Is it possible to grow enough food in your backyard to live off of (plus chickens as a yard waste disposal) if you also work full time? I can't even eat at a restaurant without knowing if they use organic produce.
Organic produce uses tons of pesticides some of which are really nasty (but hey it's "natural" copper sulfate), so that's not a solution to anything.