Current reading

[gemfyre]

So I'm reading Silent Spring by Rachael Carson. I've only read the first couple of chapters so far but there are two things I'm taking from it.

- Things haven't changed that much in the almost 50 years since it's been printed, that's scary.
- The chemicals she talks about were originally formulated for biological warfare - and then countries started using the same chemicals on themselves instead.

Some people try so hard to obtain organic food these days, but the way these chemicals hang around, I doubt ANYTHING is truly industrial chemical/pesticide free anymore.

Comments

there is more to organics than just chemicals...

[vegetus.livejournal.com]

People buy organics for a variety of different reasons that are not related to not wanting to consume any chemicals at all. Things like taste, nutritional content, avoidance on GMOs, discouraging monoculture, animal welfare, worker welfare, relationship with ones food producer etc etc all play a part in why people choose to consume organic products.

I also think few would disagree that it is better to buy from producers who have stopped adding chemicals into the environment and have things like soil and air checks conducted regularly so that there is less nasties being released into the food chain. Of course eating at the bottom of the food chain always helps if you are concerned about personally consuming a large amount of chemicals.

[vegetus.livejournal.com]

Should also add that the publication of Silent Spring was a pivitol point in the modern organics movement as it was the first time many people realised what was happening in agriculture.

[jet-ski.livejournal.com]

I read Silent Spring while I was still at Uni. I can't remember if it was formally part of any units or not.

I think that organically grown stuff with minimal food miles is probably a good goal to go for if you are wanting to produce and consume more sustainably. The very best food is whatever is produced from your backyard. However, there are probably remnant chemicals around. I remember Josh Byrne coming over to teach us how to kill and dress the 5 roosters we somehow ended up with. He told us not to eat the offal because of the likelihood of contamination by previous land use in the suburbs. I don't know if he was being paranoid, but we didn't eat the offal.