A little (organic) food for thought

I wrote a blog posting a few days ago after I listed to a podcast from one of my favorite magazines, The Economist. In addition to its usual political and economic focus, a recent issue included a special report on the world's oceans. Much of what it said wouldn't be news to any of us. The oceans are warming, becoming more acidic, and rising. We can blame human activity, sun spots, or whatever we choose for the fact that glaciers are melting fresh water into the sea and rising carbon dioxide levels are changing the pH balance of the water. (Don't think we can blame the sun for overfishing or for the Texas-sized floating patch of plastic, however.)

Sure, I was aware of the effects of dumping pollutants directly into the sea - that's kind of obvious. But something I hadn't really thought about was the effect of runoff from the land. Chemical fertilizers and other toxins find their way into waterways, and ultimately into the oceans. It's not just the effects of chemicals that are themselves detrimental to delicate sea life, but the direct effects of introducing an agent that is designed to make plant life grow (and has to be water-resistant to withstand rainfall, so it's not breaking down.)

This is where the debate over organic vs. conventionally grown food takes on a different life. Many of us are convinced that our organic food an drinks taste better and make us feel better. We can find studies to support the idea that organically grown foods are more nutritious, though we can just as easily find studies that say they're not. But we can't deny the effects that agricultural chemicals have on our planet, and that very often gets left out of the conversation.

Not to comment on Al Gore one way or the other, but the "inconvenient truth" is that our food choice here affects more than just ourselves. Organic food costs a little more, but what's the true cost of the alternative?

If you're interested in reading more, try this report I found. It's dramatic stuff.