There is a belief among the skeptics that the label
“organic” as applied to food is vague and not very descriptive. Consumers
assume it means one thing, but the standards can vary from place to place.
Years ago, my brother asked me how I knew that the produce I was buying was
really organic. (This was before buying organic produce was “cool.”) At the
time, I couldn’t think of a good explanation. Only weeks or months later, when
I brought home a head of lettuce that was full of little black bugs – mostly dead
– did I have proof that at least the lettuce I was buying wasn’t being sprayed
with any kind of insecticide.
I have trusted the organic label on anything I have
purchased from Whole Foods. And I believe I’ve been right in my trust. But
there’s one problem.
Whole Foods – even the great corporation of Whole Foods –
must succumb to government regulations.
Bye-bye, organic melons
Recently, the man who owns the goat dairy where we buy our
raw milk attended a farmer’s market conference. He enjoyed himself there and
learned some new things, but he also brought back some infuriating news. That
is, infuriating to those of us working hard to keep synthetic chemicals out of
our bodies. Thanks to a few cases of food poisoning due to – authorities
believe – consumption of food from roadside stands (and maybe a farmer’s market
somewhere), a bill was created and passed into law that will require all melons (and likely a few other items) to be rinsed with bleach before being sold. THIS INCLUDES MELONS THAT ARE CERTIFIED
ORGANIC.
Okay, so something being rinsed in bleach isn’t the same as
pesticides seeping through the skin and becoming part of the fruit. But in my
opinion, as soon as you put any amount of any kind of toxic chemical during any
part of the handling of a food, it is no longer organic.
Not only that – the rinsing with bleach – but also the
government is working on forbidding the operation of roadside stands. If you
won’t take your goods to the nearest “legal” farmer’s market – no matter how
far away it might be – you won’t sell your stuff.
So much for a free country.
By the way…
Speaking of raw milk, you might have heard about the FDA
raiding dairies that sell unpasteurized milk. Terrorizing even the children
that live on those farms. Destroying equipment. Shutting them down.
It’s actually not the FDA. It’s Homeland Security.
Aah, yes, chalk another one up to the government for helping
us to feel safe in our nation of birth.
What next?
I’m normally not a harbinger of doom, but this dismaying
news led my mind down a path: is there coming a day where the label “organic”
won’t be able to be trusted, anywhere?
I’m glad I know how to grow my family’s fruits and
vegetables. I also know that even if I couldn’t grow our own melons, I wouldn’t
buy a single one again from a store or farmer’s market.
