Revisiting this post, it occurs to me that sometimes things must be morally mandated in our society. The proper treatment of the animals we eat, for instance.

If we simply rely on the companies to do right, it will never happen. We live in a Milton Friedman society, where corporations have been told for years and years by our most “free-market” leaders that their only responsibility is to earn money, regardless the harm they may cause. If we want corporations to do the right thing in this day and age, it MUST be mandated or it will not happen. We have seen this again and again over the last 8-10 years. Must we list the constant reminders? Start with Enron and work your way down…

There are organic corn and soybean farmers and there are eligible for the same support as non-organic. It is by crop and not method of production. BTW there are some organic farmers who are larger than non organic. Size does not determine method of production either.

The best way to support a cause is to make it easy for people who don’t care as much about the cause and won’t invest as much as you will.

It’s win-win, if you can pull it off: More people support your cause, even if you haven’t raised their actual concern. Since they can easily participate, the problem takes on a smaller size and they are more willing to care about it – since the problem now seems solvable. And you get the same ease or affordability that you’ve worked to bring to others.

Right now, affordable and convenient local produce is tough to come by. A site like LocalHarvest, however, helps people locate affordable local foods that often have convenient delivery. Pioneer Organics is a business that makes buying organic food easier and delivers (great for car-free living!), plus they clearly mark local foods as well.

And I think I’m going to try our old CSA again . . . thanks for the reminder, y’all!

Why not subsidize small organic farmers instead if that is something our society agrees is important enough to subsidize?

Organic farms produce food differently. True, the cows do not receive antibiotics or rbGH/rBST on organic farms, but the end result for both is milk WITHOUT antibiotics. Milk (organic or not) has trace amounts of rbGH/rBST since that is a protein found in ALL COWS. Not using antibiotics actually makes cows suffer MORE. & if recovery without medication seems unlikely, a dairy cow with a simple respiratory infection will be slaughtered for its meat, or sold to a traditional farm where she can get the medicine she needs.

Regular milk is pasteurized and has a shelf life of about 20 days. Organic milk is ultrapasteurized (which is more forgiving of poor quality milk) such that it has a shelf life of about 90 days. What? Your milk has an expiration date comparable to real milk? Your store is putting it out in that time frame so you’ll think it’s fresher than regular milk!

“Free range?” Not monitored, and the male chickens are still killed in the same ways. The range is a small enclosure, unable to fit more than a few chickens at a time. Most don’t get that time at all. Sorry, if you’re not into animals being treated cruelly, better to be a vegetarian. Organic and free range animals suffer as much, if not more, than on commercial farms.

Well surely organic produce is better, right? Nope. Organic production is far less efficient than modern methods, so organic farmers use more natural and man-made resources (i.e. land and fuel) to produce their crops. Not to mention that most organic products are flown in from other countries. Why hello there, carbon footprint!

Your best bet for the environment is to buy locally-grown or locally-produced. But don’t fool yourself into thinking that organic is healthier or better for animals or more environmentally friendly. You’ve just bought into the hype.

I do the local thing for food as much as I am able. It is a lot of extra work but I enjoy it for the most part.

One thing that is v. expensive but I am commited to most of the time: shopping from local merchants. I am so sick of seeing large corps come in and squash “the little people”. Every town looks the same to me for the most part and I still want people to make a living from their own business in the U.S.

Sometimes it is hard committing to this; many small merchants in my neighborhood don’t make it easy – such as limited hours – or- my fave! not being open when I arrive although it is within their posted times! And also I’m finding the selection is limited and/or they are out of stuff I need a lot. I try to stick it out but enough weeks of this and I find myself at Giant and the PetSmart – which makes me feel disappointment within myself. Shopping the locals for necessity is definitely more expensive, but I feel it is worth it for the “greater good”.

By staying in my neighborhood to spend the bulk of my cash too, I get to walk everywhere and not use gas. That appeals to me regardless of how much gas costs. I was like that when it was $1.10/gal.

Another point I wanted to make is that the amount of greenhouse gases due to food production is way more influenced by the amount of animal (meat, dairy) product in one’s diet than distance traveled. So if you don’t want to count food miles, or want to do more to reduce your footprint, simply increase the number of meatless meals you eat a week.

One other good reason to buy local honey:

http://www.helpthehoneybees.com/#/howYouCanHelp/signAPetition/

Having worked at an apiary for several years, I’m assuming that when you buy honey from a local producer that you’re buying the raw straight-from-the-tap honey that is not pasteurized or creamed?

The honey is so much better. If you live out of town on a farm, then consider buying a few hives from the apiary and working the bees yourself. From experience, there really isn’t all that much work to do. In spring and fall, feed them as much syrup (water mixed with lots of sugar) as they can take and for winter insulate the hives as much as possible so they can survive the winter. Buy a smoker (to pacify the bees while you work the hive) and we used to use burlap bags to burn, when we ran out, we would burn dried up cow patties. Yes, cow dung. It stunk, but it worked and was better to have calm bees vs. getting stung.

Apart from the rainy days getting stung, I really miss working bees. Tons of exercise, lots of fresh air…. ahhhh, perfect. Unless you’re allergic of course.

Depends on who owns the Wal-Mart. Does a local person own that Wal-Mart? Or is it a corporate owned store? I don’t know if Wal-Mart franchises or not. But if they don’t, if they are all owned by the central corporation, then no Wal-Mart is really “local”, which in this context generally means locally owned.

Ever have a garden? If you have, have you noticed how much produce you lose if you don’t use any pesticides?

Now, presume that a conventional farmer loses significantly less produce because of his use of pesticides, so he has a larger crop. He sells his crop at a price that covers his costs and gives him a small profit (or sometimes not, because he is almost entirely dependant upon what the processor for his goods is paying).

Now, figure the organic producer loses more of his crop to pests. So his crop is smaller. Yet, he still had to produce the whole crop (including the part lost to pests) at a cost. So he has to get more for his smaller crop to cover his costs.

Because I buy locally pretty much everything, eggs, bread, milk, cheese, butter, meat, vegs, and fruit. My advise to JD is go to the local farmer’s market when it is open and meet farmers you would like to do business with. Most of these people have produce all year long that they can sell you if you know where to locate them. If you make the time to make a local connection you help the community and the earth by not having food shipped to you.

Also- this is another benefit that I haven’t seen anyone mention. When you get organic produce, save some seeds. Put them on a piece of newspaper and dry them somewhere. Pop them in some soil to germinate for a few days and then plop them in your front yard. It’s FREE (at this point), and you just might be able to grow some of your own produce.

For more info about CSAs see:
http://www.localharvest.org/csa/

I’m not fanatical about it but if I am lucky enough to acquire more locally grown veggies than I can eat I plan ahead for leaner months. Squash particularly freezes well, as do soups and sauces made with fresh veggies.

I am still working on ways to can fruits with no sugar that still taste good but its a work in progress.

Buying locally is important to me for two reasons: first, I can get to know the seller and get comfortable with their operation. The word organic became meaningless to me the day that the USDA got control over it. I want to know that vegetables are grown sustainably, and that animal products come from critters who ate and lived their lives as they were meant. Secondly, I am supporting a local family instead of fattening the coffers of Cargill or Monsanto.

Producing as much of our food as I can is also very important. I love the education my children are getting, and I love the quality of the food. (Jeez, you have to wonder what they are spraying on that “non-organic produce” that doesn’t spoil so quickly to keep it “preserved” so well.) The garden and orchard provide the freshest fruits, vegetables and herbs. The tomato sauce I canned last year was amazing! And the pickles and saurkraut, made using traditional lacto-fermentation techniques, were also wonderful. We also keep chickens, and since they are out on the grass, we raise lambs each year to keep the grass short enough for the chickens. That lamb meat is the best I’ve ever had.

There is no question it is a lot of work, though you would be surprised at how little land you need. We do all of this on about 1.5 acres. At any rate, it is a labor of love, providing my family with the best food that I can, and providing my children with an education of what is real food and how it may be produced in a sustainable manner.

More generally, I want to agree with someone earlier who was making the distinction between frugal and cheap. I like to think about having a set amount of money and asking myself, how do I want to spend it — on one new book or several used? On a smaller amount of organic/local food or lots of mass-produced food? On a single, locally made piece of jewelry purchased directly from the artist or multiple items from a department store? At different times, different answers. (But always bring your own bag!!)

The irony is they have to drive 30 miles to the nearest premium organic food store, when they are literally a 10 minute WALK from the local “chain” grocery store.

I have no problem with them driving the extra miles for better tasting food if they want to, but don’t tell me that driving 60 miles to buy organic food is “better” for the environment.

Your interpretation of what I said is not correct. Instead of you saying ’since I cannot know for sure if X is Y, Y-ness is of no value to me’ I would say that ‘the justification for pursuing Y-ness is diminshed,’ much of which is based upon my prior concern that there are, particularly now, too many cases of the unscrupulous profiteering from genuine health and environmental concerns with products that do not provide the benefits being touted. In some cases, it is fairly easy to find out if the products are genuinely organic, and in other cases it’s not. Organic foods is an industry just like any other and just like in any industry, there will be those who cut corners, whether it be the distributor or the supplier of the product. And if people can peddle milk for 50-100% more per gallon claiming it to be organic when it is not, I have no doubt that there are those who are doing it.

The point is, are the products local?

How is this an appropriate example for upholding Earth Day?

I hope she brings her own grocery bag.

Normally I buy Lucerne milk at Safeway, which is kosher (supervised from the time of processing) and costs something like CAD$4.29 for 4 litres (close to a US gallon). But for Passover I buy special milk that comes from Montreal and is supervised from the time of milking. The cost? CAD$5.60 PER LITRE. So I spent $56.00 for enough milk for the 8 days of Passover. Ouch. But I wouldn’t consider doing anything else. (And I know many people who buy this milk all the time, but they generally don’t drink a lot of milk.)

I have no idea. I actually was puzzled when I saw the label. Are these free-range bees? I’ve heard arguments that local honey has some actual health benefits (sorry, no evidence at hand to back that up), but organic? I don’t know what that means.