This is a guest blog, originally posted on Farm Babe, and and was re-posted with permission.
While the Organic industry spends Billions of dollars through different organizations leading with fear as an industry to get you to buy their products, they are horribly hypocritical.
Below is a list of Organic substances, some far more toxic than anything you’ll see on a GMO (which is why about 90% of certain crop farmers grow GMOs; they are far better for the environment). The full list of permitted organic substances can be found on the EPA’s website.
While certain Organizations get paid big bucks by Organic companies to yell “Roundup Roundup something-something Monsanto GMO something, because Monsanto GMO or something,” why do they fail to tell you that over half of of the pesticides used in Organic production are proven carcinogenic?
I’ll tell ya why…. Because the organic industry is now valued at over $65 Billion, while Monsanto (who only holds 30% of the market share for seeds) only brought it under $16 Billion last year. Follow (part of) the money trail.
“Until recently, nobody bothered to look at natural chemicals [such as organic pesticides], because it was assumed that they posed little risk. But when the studies were done, the results were somewhat shocking: you find that about half of the natural chemicals studied are carcinogenic as well.”
I say this… Not because I want you to fear Organic food. Quite the opposite. The moral of the story is that ALL food is safe, because the dose makes the poison. (Take 2 Tylenol, not the whole bottle). Farmers spray a very minimal amount on our crops, only if it’s necessary to get the job done to rid of insects, weeds, etc. Sometimes Organic farmers don’t need to spray anything, but this also rings true for conventional. (We don’t personally have to apply anything to our conventional oats, for example.) Chemicals can be very expensive, and often times requires the use of a licensed professional. It makes ZERO financial sense to “drench” our crops in chemicals. You’d have to eat MASSIVE amounts of any crop to negatively affect human health. Think….like… 84 TONS a day worth of corn, and even that is a stretch!
GMO Corn gets sprayed before the edible part of the plant is present (and is protected by husks anyway). It’s humanly impossible to “eat” roundup…. The application rate equates to about a fifth of a gallon combined with a hundred parts water on an area of land the size of a football field (which yields nearly 6 TONS of grain).
It isn’t scary. We eat our own crops, and have been feeding them to our livestock for nearly 20 years with no problems. We eat our own steaks and all have excellent health, as a farm family.
The next time you see something like “GMOs could cause cancer,” understand that according to a Google search, pretty much everything causes cancer. Plastic water bottles, granite countertops, campfires, coffee, alcohol, sunshine, organic pesticides, microwaves, cell phones. Are we supposed to live in a bubble? Kinda ridiculous, right?
I encourage everyone to go to the source for their information. If you read something scary on the internet, consider the source. Are they trying to sell you something? Are they asking you for donations? Who does their affiliate marketing on their website? We are farmers and I volunteer my time here. Doesn’t it make more sense to ask us about farming?
Learning about food production from someone with a computer science degree is like going to your lawyer when you need to have surgery! Silly.
Feel free to pass along this information. Farm Babe won’t try and sell you anything. I’m not asking you for money or to buy my book. No one pays me to be here. I just think it’s important to spread the word of truthful information from people that work in the industry everyday. If you have any questions about Agriculture, please visit a farm!
Thank you to all the amazing farmers out there for all that you do, no matter how it’s grown!
Michelle Miller, or Farm Babe, grew up involved in 4-H, horse riding and doing chores on her friends’ grandparents farms, but when her high school aptitude tests told her to go into farming, she ignored them and headed west for college and a career in fashion. After working for Gucci On Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and spending a number of years in downtown Chicago, she bought into organic, grass-fed, “Monsanto is the devil” food idealism. At this point she caught the travel bug and moved to Florida, where she was able to have a flexible schedule as a ‘globetrotting bartender’ to finish up her goal of visiting all 7 continents, (56 countries.) she then met her “Prince Farming.” In the years she has been living and working on his Iowa farm, she has learned the truths of modern agriculture firsthand and enjoys educating the public and debunking the popular myths she once believed in. Together, she works alongside him and his family on nearly 2,000 acres of corn, soybeans, alfalfa and cattle. She’s happier than she’s ever been to get back to her “roots” of being involved with animals and farming and has gone from being skeptical about food to to sharing her passion of modern agriculture! She’s literally gone from Rodeo to the Rodeo, and wouldn’t have it any other way.
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