"Only five people in history have ever won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal..."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19886675/site/newsweek/

One more tasty sound-bite from the article:

"Did you ever wonder why junk food is cheaper than nutritious food? Because it's taxpayer-funded."

[...]he's convinced that paying more for organic is "a lot of nonsense." There's "no evidence the food is any different than that produced by chemical fertilizer."

Hmmm. My personal experience differs.

Interesting piece. But I wonder about the guy. Doesn't it seem strange that he would say that subsidies on crops are ridiculous but so is paying more for organic food? Part of the reason organic food costs more is because there aren't any subsidies on it (that's USDA rules). And I don't remember anyone saying organic food would end world hunger (as Habler mentione, which stems from inadequate distribution, not production.

Anyway, the point about how no one knows who the hell this guy is is well taken. And I love the sarcastic title of the piece.

The book "Omnivore's Dilemma" points out that few people know about the guy who invented the process for creating chemical fertilizer (that is, "fixing" nitrogen artifically) yet he is more responsible for the "green" revolution than anyone else. Then again, he used the same technology to make chemical weapons for Nazi Germany. I guess that does taint one's record.

@floppel: From what I've read, you're totally right. They're definitely healthier. I'm not sure about taste, if all other things are equal, though no one can deny that local organic is tons better than distant conventional.

Just looked up "Green Revolution" on wikipedia. I just learned something new today. Certainly an area that has plenty of controversy. I can see where Norman Borlaug's bias towards the use of chemicals comes from. Interesting stuff...

I'm not on the organic bandwagon yet. Anybody want to post some beginner's-level info on the topic, including scientific studies?

squished

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_certification has a pretty good overview. It's important to note that organic certification is not a be all, end all, and tends to lend itself to larger volume producers, which are generally less environmentally friendly. Oh the irony! If I had more time, I'd give you better information. Sorry! Again, I'd recommend Omnivore's Dilemma by Micheal Pollan.