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The Spectacle Blog
Maybe “scam” is a strong word, but “hyped” probably isn’t. More and more scientific research is showing that organic and green products don’t live up to expectations— or even to the label, for that matter.
This post by Melinda Moyer describes how so-called “green” household cleaners aren’t any less toxic than regular household cleaners. In fact, almost any product can claim to be “green” because there are no laws regulating that. From the piece:
The core of the problem is that there are no laws regulating green marketing, so a company can say its product is all-natural or non-toxic without having to prove anything or even disclose its ingredients on the bottle.
What about organic farming? Isn’t that supposed to be “green,” too? Not really. A recent article by John Stossel in Reason describes how free-range beef, which is marketed partially based on how good it is for the environment, actually emits more greenhouse gases than regular farming methods. And another article from Discovery News reports on research from the University of Copenhagen which concluded that organic vegetables aren’t any healthier than conventional vegetables.
So, what we’ve got is an industry selling you an idea: The idea that “natural” is good, and “unnatural” is bad. This misleads the public into rejecting modern technology and conventional agricultural practices, including techniques like genetic modification.
Does that make organic and green products a scam? I don’t know, but they sure are expensive.
Alex B. Berezow is the Editor of RealClearScience. He holds a Ph.D. in microbiology.
View all comments (34) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Alex B. Berezow
http://spectator.org/blog/2010/12/10/are-organic-and-green-products
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linda| 12.10.10 @ 3:53AM
Organic and green products expensive? Sure, and that's the whole point. It makes the Lefties feel good, like they're actually doing something to save Mother Earth. It gives them reason to get up in the morning, so they can be ever so smug, claiming they eat organic, or they use green products. It gives them purpose to act holier than thou.
I'm only aware of 2 Hollywood Leftie, greenie types that practice what they preach, and aren't terribly in your face about it: Darryl Hannah and Ed Begley, Jr.
Unfortunately, I live in middle class suburbia, and don't have extra cash to throw away on going green.
uncle curmudgeon| 12.10.10 @ 7:36AM
"Green" is that portion of the natural light spectrum which falls between yellow and blue. If someone uses the term to describe any other process or concept, he's lying. It may be a big lie or a little one, but a lie it is. Money is the most convenient way to measure the alocation of resources. A higher price for a comparable product means that more resources were consumed in the production of the higher priced item. "Green" ain't "green".
Eric Cartman| 12.10.10 @ 9:25AM
Stupidest sign ever: "Organic Bananas". As opposed to the plastic ones the hippies love so much, I guess.
chaney| 12.10.10 @ 7:28AM
I've wondered about this for quite a while.
There are a few ways that organic products could be appealing: they taste better; they are better for you; or, they are better for the environment. It appears that there is no evidence that they are any of those things.
Organic products are, however, more expensive because, at least the last time I read any statistic, organic farming is only about 2/3 as productive as conventional farming.
What's striking about this is to compare it to stories about evil capitalists that any one of us would have heard in college 25 years ago. People selling rice, for example, might dump some of their product in the ocean thus reducing the supply, increasing the price, and decreasing the amount of rice they need to pack and ship. The only difference I can see between this and organic farmers is that the organic farmers intentionally reduce the supply in order to drive up the price much earlier in the process. They dump 1/3 of their rice before it gets anywhere near the market, but as linda's post implies, the same people who vilify the capitalist fat cats pay a premium for the products of these contemporary rice dumpers.
Bizarre.
Sean| 12.10.10 @ 8:17AM
I would say people buy free-range beef in the hopes that it doesn't contain steroids and artificial hormones. They really don't care about green house gasses.
jrs| 12.10.10 @ 8:39AM
Sean,
Your 100% right. While modern farm techniques have vastly improved productivity and reduced costs (a good thing) they arent without problems. Im not sure of the empirical research, but the addition of hormones and steroids are at least partially blamed for the earlier onset of puberty. As cheap as i am, ive indicated to my wife if god graces us with girls, ill suck it up and buy the organics. Oh and by the way, free range is leaner just like wild game has alwaus been.
Cromulent| 12.10.10 @ 10:20AM
Now that is closer to the mark. I suppose steroids and antibiotics good things to be missing in free range beef, but its the nutritional profile of the meat that is the key. Specfically its fatty acid profile. Its what we are evolved to eat.
If more people asked for it, capitalists would figure out how to produce free range beef with the same efficiency "factory" meat is. Might take awhile, but now is a good place to start.
MikeBee| 12.10.10 @ 11:05AM
Cromulent,
You're right! While I will generally do not buy organic products, as they are more expensive, and I WILL NOT buy a product advertised as "Green," I do look for places serving free range beef. The Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids ratio in free range beef is the same as in salmon raised in northern waters. It's good for you to eat, as opposed to the ratio of these same fatty acids in corn-fed beef, which are exactly opposite.
Ma Kettle| 12.10.10 @ 9:55AM
No one I know gardens in cashmere sweaters and italian leather boots, but our First Lady does! And they laughed at Nancy Reagan's china.
Stephanie| 12.10.10 @ 11:11AM
Is moochelle's garden green? Well of course it is. She can grow her hubby some arugula in her chasmere sweater and italian leather boots.
What a gal.
William R| 12.10.10 @ 11:00AM
Stossel can eat all the bug sprayed veggies and fruits he wants. I don't mind paying a little extra for the organic. And science has shown that organic veggies are more nutritious and they do taste better.
DEIN | 12.10.10 @ 11:48AM
william r Would you please cite or link to any objective and or double blind studies that can verify your statements.
William R| 12.10.10 @ 12:37PM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7067100.stm
Penn and Teller are the biggest frauds out there. They went on a jihad against organic foods not telling their viewers that Monsanto is bankrolling them. Google Monsanto Pen & Teller. While I usually like Stossel he falls into the Penn and Teller category.
CalMark| 12.10.10 @ 2:24PM
Ah, yes, that bastion of objectivity, State Run (literally!) BBC.
And who controlled the government that controlled BBC for almost 15 years? Labour--full of utopians and hippies!
Yep, that's credible.
Alex Berezow | 12.10.10 @ 3:42PM
The source you cited has two issues:
1) The research is funded by the EU, which is notoriously opposed to genetically-modified foods.
2) Further down in the article, it actually agrees with me:
"Consumers may also choose to buy organic food because they believe that it is safer and more nutritious than other food.
"However, the balance of current scientific evidence does not support this view."
William R| 12.10.10 @ 4:48PM
Berezow and the studies that show organic food has no benefit are funded by Monsanto and Archer Daniels Midland. Who are you kidding. Big agri business sees organic farming as a threat so they're out to destroy it. But it has saved the family farm and demand for it is increasing yearly.
Alex Berezow | 12.10.10 @ 6:08PM
I'm being funded by big agri business? That's news to me.
William R| 12.10.10 @ 6:53PM
Have you done any studies yourself?? I'm just saying most of the studies that say organic isn't any better are bankrolled by big agri business. Recent study by a chemist at University of California Berkley showed that organic tomatoes had more Lycopene than regular tomatoes. Lycopense good at fighting cancer cells.
Wayne | 12.10.10 @ 12:17PM
I am a vegetarian, and I will call it a scam. To do one ANY good whatsoever, one would have to go 100 percent organic, which is impossible. The organic eaters are only fooling themselves.
However I do appreciate an alternative to genetically altered food, which I think is a problem. It is a control over world food supply and one that can not be undone.
William R| 12.10.10 @ 12:48PM
No they're not. With the growth of all the off the wall cancers and not knowing what causes them the idea of eating food with bug spray is something I'd rather do without. At 60 years young I remember my mother saying those tomatoes taste like your Grandmothers. Back in the days when agriculture wasn't controlled by big agri-business. Mother nature and all its wisdom allowed crops to develop immunities against the pests. They were hardier crops.
Margie| 12.10.10 @ 12:19PM
What I've learned over the years is that you just have to read your labels.
Look at the ingredients, never mind the advertising or the packaging claiming Green or Natural. Advertising laws are a whole 'nother story, let me tell ya. The laws provide for a whole lot of false advertising.. sorta like lawyers are allowed to lie, which is yet a whole 'nother story too.
But generally I say organic is better because you do get less chemicals, hormones, etc. Pesticides being one of the biggest culprits. I'm a conservative who's for organic foods, and why not? I'm also a conservative for clean water, fresh air and sunshine.. heh, guess I'm an environmentalist. Then again, I must be a Liberal because I'm for choice.. the choice to eat organic.. or not!
owyheewine| 12.10.10 @ 12:23PM
Scam IS the right word.
The same applies to "sustainable energy".
yessmiss| 12.10.10 @ 1:04PM
The benefits of eating organic lie in the fact that these items have not been genetically-modified.
There is plenty of research (especially in Europe & Asia ) that shows health effects of eating genetically modified food, including food allergies, obesity, sexual dysfunction & sterility, cancer, etc.
Genetically modified food is illegal and outlawed in Europe and Japan for these reasons.
Unfortunately for US citizens, our head of US Food Safety is also the VP and former attorney of Monsanto, a biochem firm profiting from genetically modified seeds. So his line to the US public is that medical testing of GMO is not necessary. 80 % of our food is genetically modified, without labeling.
Organic food is, by definition, NOT GENETICALLY MODIFIED.
Therin lies the value of organic food.
CalMark| 12.10.10 @ 2:26PM
Q. Why are "green" and recycled products so much more expensive?
A. Energy. It costs more because it requires more energy to produce this stuff. How is that green?
Of course it's a scam!
Alex Berezow | 12.10.10 @ 3:57PM
Genetically modified food is absolutely NOT illegal in the EU. (I don't know about Japan, but it's probably not illegal.)
The EU isn't particularly fond of genetically modified foods because they're giving in to populist ignorance over science. (They're reacting like cavemen react to fire.) I also have the sneaking suspicion that if GM crops didn't largely come from the United States, the EU wouldn't be so opposed to them.
I would encourage you to actually read about the process of genetic modification. It's discussed in pretty much any undergraduate textbook on microbiology or molecular biology. It's probably on Wikipedia, too, and a hundred other places. GM foods are fine, and they feed hungry people in places like Africa and southeast Asia.
Stan Redmond| 12.10.10 @ 3:19PM
Organic farmers are producing a product people want and are willing to pay the premium cost. That is not a scam. That is capitalism.
I don't particularly care about the "green" marketing used for "organic" foods. I do, however, tend to buy from the organic section of the grocery store and at farmers' markets. Being an enthusiastic cook, I enjoy the variety. And usually the veggies and fruits are more flavorful. BUT it is not because the "organic" (less effecient) method makes veggies taste better. They MUST be picked closer to where they are purchased because they are not able to be shipped all over the country from massive farms like politically incorrect produce.
p-squared| 12.10.10 @ 4:02PM
I have a friend who farms an organic co-op in Virginia, and he had to jump through significant regulatory hoops to market his produce as "organic". I also have a friend in the beef business who was interested in pursuing the "organic" tag but gave up due to the costs. Personally, I try to buy local and seasonal whenever possible, both to support local farmers and do my insignificant part to reduce the energy used to bring me fresh tomatoes in February (for example).
Nick| 12.10.10 @ 4:40PM
Of course "organic" is a scam. How does anyone KNOW what they are buying is really organic? There are no standards.
"Organic" is just one more clever marketing tool, like "pro-biotic," "anti-oxidant," "whole grain," and "sea-salt."
My sisters buy into this junk-science, and we have many arguments about it at birthdays and holidays.
By the way, even organic vegies are loaded with evil chemicals. They contain ascorbic acid. And sodium chloride. And dihydrogen monoxide. Bad, bad chemicals.
On the day your body was conceived, it began dying.
Alex Berezow | 12.10.10 @ 6:04PM
"By the way, even organic vegies are loaded with evil chemicals. They contain ascorbic acid. And sodium chloride. And dihydrogen monoxide. Bad, bad chemicals."
I like you. :)
Nick| 12.10.10 @ 7:05PM
Mr. Berezow,
Thank you.
I, also, enjoyed your post.
Zack| 12.10.10 @ 11:21PM
yessmiss said:
"The benefits of eating organic lie in the fact that these items have not been genetically-modified.
Organic food is, by definition, NOT GENETICALLY MODIFIED."
Not necessarily.
A particular foodstuff may have been 100% organically grown, but it may have come from a clone seed.
Or, somewhere in its genetic history there may have been modification via radiation, or having had an extra gene added in.
Buying 100% organic does not guarantee it's free of genetic modification. Eating organic doesn't guarantee it's GM-free.
handbagboots | 12.11.10 @ 12:49AM
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Depending on your PC's DVD drive and Blank disc, you may go through a few DVD's until one works perfectly. AVCHD does not work on all Blu-Ray players, so check with the manufacturer first. Do not pirate copyrighted material.
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