The Organic Illusion

The Organic Illusion
Feb 4, 2014 | Farm Wars | Barbara H. Peterson

Slap a ‘USDA Certified Organic’ label on a product, and viola! It is safe, GMO-free, and healthy, right? If you are comfortable and feel safe believing that, then this article is not for you. However, if you think that somehow trusting the USDA – an agency that has proven time and time again that its sole purpose is to hand the act of producing food over to the hands of multinational agribusiness corporations such as Monsanto – with the truthful labeling of our supposedly ‘organic’ food is foolhardy at best, then read on.

Recently I posted “GMOs in USDA Organic Food“ on Farm Wars. It is getting very little notice. Why? Because nobody wants to hear it. It tears apart the illusion of a ‘safe’ haven for non-GMO food. It attacks the bubble we create for ourselves, thinking that we can simply go to the store and pick up a can of ‘USDA Certified Organic’ food and feel safe. It makes us uncomfortable because it demands that we take responsibility for our food choices instead of relegating those choices to a government agency whose sole purpose is to subjugate and control. And we go home with our cans and jars and boxes of government-certified phony ‘organic’ food and feel good about ourselves that we made the right choice and have taken a stand for food safety.

QUIT BEING MANIPULATED!

I say to the people who equate food safety to the USDA Organic label: Get up off of your hind ends and do the research! Just because it says USDA Organic does not mean that it has not been adulterated by people whose job is to do just that. If you don’t trust the company who makes the food, then USDA Organic label or not, DO NOT BUY IT!

Even Monsanto is getting into the ‘organic’ market by adding another division to its portfolio in an attempt to take advantage of the growing demand for organic food caused by the backlash that it created by flooding store shelves with its patented genetically engineered pesticide-laden factory ‘foods.’ Monsanto wants to own ALL seeds, including organic, and is working steadily on a monopoly on the creation of every single thing we eat. Would you buy ‘USDA Certified Organic’ made by Monsanto?

Egg Comparison

Take a good look at this photo in which I compare my non-labeled, non-certified organic homegrown egg yolk with a yolk from one of the ‘USDA Certified Organic’ eggs that I bought at the market. How do I know mine is organic? The USDA didn’t tell me. I know it is organic because I know what my chickens eat, and I know how they are raised. Mine is the one on the right. The shell is lighter, but the yolk is much darker. A darker yolk indicates a well-rounded diet. My hens free range. The storebought egg is on the left. The shell is darker, but the yolk is a very pale yellow. Why the difference? Just because it is stamped ‘USDA Certified Organic’ doesn’t mean that the hens are getting a well-rounded diet. It simply means that the feed they are getting is labeled ‘USDA Certified Organic,’ and not necessarily nutritious.

 To go even further, I cooked both eggs, and put some of the yolk from each one into Rita Bird’s feeder. To be more than fair and reduce the level of ‘chance’ in the experiment, I put only one piece from my chicken’s egg into the bowl along with three pieces of the storebought one. Guess which yolk she went after? Yup, she picked through them and found the one homegrown yolk. Now the question is… do we have the sense of a bird when it comes to choosing our food? From the looks of it, I’d say no.

Labels do not indicate that a product is healthy, nutritious, or good for us. They simply indicate what the grocery manufacturers in collusion with government agencies want us to know. Everything they don’t want revealed is hidden behind that label. Labeling has turned into something much more than simply letting customers know what it is they are buying. It has been turned and twisted into something that conveys whatever illusion corporations want to display in order to sell more products. This practice is commonly known as ‘marketing,’ and it is perfectly legal. Ethical? No. But since when has the USDA or Monsanto or most any other giant agribusiness ever been concerned with ethics?

©2014 Barbara H. Peterson