Or so says Michael Mack, chief executive of Syngenta, a Swiss agribusiness giant that makes pesticides and seeds. According to the New York Times, Mack notes, “Organic food is not only not better for the planet… it is categorically worse.”
His reasoning…
- Organic farming takes up 30% more land than nonorganic farming
- You can’t feed the fast-growing population on existing cropland if you go organic.
- Pesticides are proven safe.
Actually Mack took his speech pretty damn far noting, “If the whole planet were to suddenly switch to organic farming tomorrow, it would be an ecological disaster,” AND that organic food is the “productive equivalent of driving an S.U.V.” Extreme much?
Interesting, but not very convincing.
One, if pesticides are a hunger problem solving miracle then how come we still don’t produce enough food for everyone. It’s economics, greed, and waste, not organic farming that’s to blame if people are starving. Secondly, Mack says that when we don’t believe that pesticides are safe all it does is implicate that we “Don’t trust the government’s findings.” Wow. Really? Because it’s not like the government has ever made mistakes before right?
I get the limits of organics. I get that they’re beaten up sporadically in the news. I get it. However, I also get that I don’t want the maximum levels of pesticides in my son PLUS it takes less energy to produce organics. Mr. Mack can talk and talk but you can’t argue when issues like childhood leukemia, neurotoxicity, disruption of the endocrine system, carcinogenicity and immune system suppression, and plenty of other health issues have been linked directly to pesticides and other toxic chemicals in food. Kids are especially at risk for health problems when it comes to pesticide exposure so anyone with children should think long and hard before they start listening to Mack-like logic.
This is just a lovely case of the people making pesticides being terrified that everyone will catch on that pesticides are a danger and they may cause horrible health issues to humans beyond the damage they do to the planet.
See which foods you should always buy organic.
What do you think of this Mack logic?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
My main issue is choosing between non-organic local produce and buying organic produce shipped from California. (We live on the east coast.) Yes, it is better for my family. But is it better for the environment? I usually opt for local over organic, but I understand the mindset of those who feel that organic is worth it at any cost. If I could find an organic CSA that provides fruit, that would be a perfect situation for us. Unfortunately, there aren’t any yet in our area.
Pathetic. Greed indeed.