Wired.com: Organic is bad for environment (less energy efficient)

[Bryan]

The path to virtue, we all know, begins with organics. Meat, milk, fruit, veggies — organic products are good for our bodies and good for the planet. Except when they're not good for the planet. Because while there may be sound health reasons to avoid eating pesticide-laden food, and perhaps personal arguments for favoring the organic-farmers' collective, the truth is that when it comes to greenhouse gases, organics can be part of the problem.

Continued:
http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/magazine/16-06/ff_heresies_03organics


One readers comment: " Wow. This is so incredibly absurd I may just be done with Wired. Take care."

[asgardshill]

Those muffled popping noises you're hearing are the greenie's heads, exploding.

(On edit, considering Sen. Kennedy's diagnosis and family history, maybe jokes about exploding heads aren't the most tactful today.)

[amy31416]

That's a pretty one-sided shitty article, hardly taking the big picture into account.

[yongrel]

Those muffled popping noises you're hearing are the greenie's heads, exploding.

lawl

Maybe folks will finally believe me when I tell them this.

Interesting factoid: If every acre of farmland currently in existence were farmed organically, 2 billion people would starve.

Thank you, Norman Borlaug!

[Dr.3D]

Like there is a problem with greenhouse gases. I have to laugh at them for even thinking along those lines.

[ARealConservative]

lawl

Maybe folks will finally believe me when I tell them this.

Interesting factoid: If every acre of farmland currently in existence were farmed organically, 2 billion people would starve.

Thank you, Norman Borlaug!

This is the truth.

The yield per acre we can achieve today is remarkable and organic farming would produce a fraction of the same results.

the real problem that needs to be addressed is the excess consumption we engage in - which is boosted by our redistribution new deal/great society mentality.

[MalcolmGandi]

I must interject that farmland would be much more efficient if cannibis were legal. www.jackherer.com

[Alex Libman]

The only thing that's bad for the environment is socialism.

Without government subsidies, price would encourage consumers to buy more "energy efficient", "land efficient", "water efficient", and otherwise cost-efficient products.

I've heard somewhere that a pound of beef steak would cost $90 (instead of $5 now) if it wasn't for the meat industry's corporate welfare. That's a lot of feed grain, water, shipping costs, etc that the taxpayers are paying for no matter how much meat they eat!

[JWZguy]

Luckily the entire greenhouse gas theory has been shown to be a complete sham:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=64734

And the "average global temperatures" that they've been trying to scare people to death with just dropped last year more than they have risen in the last 60 combined.

So. Eat what's good for you and stop worrying about mythical bullshit.

[Johnnybags]

out the air for transportation by building one of these, the ultimate bohemoth, better than paying 6k for a trailer from Cali. Buy local.




http://www.backyardbeauties.com/

[freelance]

Well now, that's not the same thing the NYT reports:

In fact, small farms are the most productive on earth. A four-acre farm in the United States nets, on average, $1,400 per acre; a 1,364-acre farm nets $39 an acre. Big farms have long compensated for the disequilibrium with sheer quantity. But their economies of scale come from mass distribution, and with diesel fuel costing more than $4 per gallon in many locations, it's no longer efficient to transport food 1,500 miles from where it's grown...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/opinion/11barber.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

If anything, I would expect the NYT to "follow the script," but they didn't in this case!

Many small farms grow organic, and even if they don't, they certainly don't plant GM on four-acre farms. How do I know? I surveyed a number of them for an article a couple of years ago.

P.S. Bryan, I'm beginning to agree with the reader response you posted. WIRED is rapidly becoming just another MSM outlet. In fact, I didn't renew my subscription this time around.

[Timothy]

This is the truth.

The yield per acre we can achieve today is remarkable and organic farming would produce a fraction of the same results.

You know that we are running out of phosphor sometime in the middle of the 21th century, don't you?

[freelance]

I must interject that farmland would be much more efficient if cannibis were legal. www.jackherer.com

Or hemp!

[armand61685]

To the guy who said hemp/cannabis--damn right! It's just an obvious wonder crop.

But, I think the solution to mass produced factory farmed bile-shit is less consumption and the excessive american lifestyle and a worldwide population decrease. The earth can only handle so much... Maybe we need an alien invasion or something.

[WRellim]

Those muffled popping noises you're hearing are the greenie's heads, exploding.

(On edit, considering Sen. Kennedy's diagnosis and family history, maybe jokes about exploding heads aren't the most tactful today.)


Damn! Now I have to clean my keyboard AGAIN!
:D

...AND go get a fresh cup of coffee
:o

...AND put on a clean shirt!
:mad:





You know what the worst part is Shilly? The fact that I read those things with that dang Asgard picture in my face... so I HEAR the words in that bland "Thor" voice, and as a result the text "...muffled popping noises..." and "...the greenie's heads, exploding..." causes fits of insane hysteria.

You are one MEAN person for putting people through that.

[Meatwasp]

lawl

Maybe folks will finally believe me when I tell them this.

Interesting factoid: If every acre of farmland currently in existence were farmed organically, 2 billion people would starve.

Thank you, Norman Borlaug!

Being that I am a organic gardener I can tell you that you get more pre yield of any vegetable raised organically then you do with vegetables raised with Chemicals. It saved land space. I read that article and just laughed.

[steve005]

f that

[fxmercenary]

Luckily the entire greenhouse gas theory has been shown to be a complete sham:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=64734

And the "average global temperatures" that they've been trying to scare people to death with just dropped last year more than they have risen in the last 60 combined.

So. Eat what's good for you and stop worrying about mythical bullshit.

yea they also posted a story on how Noah's Ark is real. What a credible resource. Ill take my chances with the global warming theory.

Plants do great in a greenhouse, but its still hotter than hell in there...

[buffalokid777]

The path to virtue, we all know, begins with organics. Meat, milk, fruit, veggies — organic products are good for our bodies and good for the planet. Except when they're not good for the planet. Because while there may be sound health reasons to avoid eating pesticide-laden food, and perhaps personal arguments for favoring the organic-farmers' collective, the truth is that when it comes to greenhouse gases, organics can be part of the problem.

Continued:
http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/magazine/16-06/ff_heresies_03organics


One readers comment: " Wow. This is so incredibly absurd I may just be done with Wired. Take care."

If you really think CO2 is hurting the planet....I would suggest you do more research.....

As someonone who organically farms.....if anything, CO2 causes plants to grow faster.....

while it is beneficial to the crops I grow.....it is alot more work in terms of removing weeds from the garden......

The whole Idea that excess CO2 is detrimental to the planet is a scam.......

If it warms the planet? Why are global temperatures decreasing?......

And if you think higher CO2 levels are bad for the planet.....I can say 100% for sure the excess CO2 levels are leading to very rapid plant growth and higher yields which is a benefit to those who grow crops.....

[iflyboats]

there's a place in the world for organic farming, whether it's bad for the environment or not. i will always buy organic