Is Organic Food a Scam?

today I'm mark from the South Division me and this is a different video to what I normally do I guess you could call it a response video because what I'm going to do is chat about a video I saw on Prager University's channel called is organic food worth the cost firstly let me be quite clear this video is not a hit piece on Prager University's Channel I personally am subscribed to their Channel I like most of their videos so it's not about that and nor is it a personal attack on beyond Lomborg who is the narrator of this video in fact I like beyond and admire much of his work but I simply disagree with his overall conclusion that organic farming has no benefit and it's just clever marketing swallowed down by gullible rich people secondly beyond video is remarkably persuasive and it's little wonder that it has received so much positive support with over 8,000 thumbs up compared to only a thousand thumbs down bjørn's arguments are convincing mainly because they're cleverly constructed in a way that's looked bordering on misleading in my view by grouping the treatment of animals together with fruit and veg he's able to bolster his argument I'll elaborate on this point a little more later but let's just get into it so beyond basically begins his video with researchers at Cornell University gave study participants a choice between two identical items one labeled organic and one regular the participants confidently declared the organic choice to be lower in calories and more nutritious they also said they pay 16 to 23 percent more for the organic choice but these beliefs about organic food have nothing to do with the reality in 2012 Stanford University's Center for Health Policy did the most comprehensive comparison and organic foods are not nutritionally superior to conventional alternatives let me deal with two points firstly the obvious rebuttal to the claim that there's absolutely no difference between organically and conventionally farmed foods is to say well even if this is true I buy organic because it's better for the environment and animals not just the nutritional value however beyond has a good comeback for this in his video beyond states several studies in the US and Norway that claim organically farmed animals have similar health to conventionally farmed animals and then he goes on to say in fact some free-ranging animals like chickens are more susceptible to acquiring parasites disease and predator attack I understand his reasoning and I could argue I gained some of these points quite effectively but there's a bigger point to be made and that's why are we talking about meat organically grown meat and vegetables are two different things and using them together in this video to prove a point is confusing his video began with two apples for goodness sake let's keep the fruit and veg argument separate to farm animals because to my knowledge fruit and veg don't feel pain or get depressed when treated inhumanely whereas animals do some people like myself advocate for organic fruit and veg whilst understanding that farmed animals may benefit from not being totally organic for example worming treatments in animals get rid of dangerous parasites just as we humans take worming tablets to get rid of them in our own system however speaking of animals what isn't mentioned in the video or comparative studies is the effect or collateral damage pesticides may have on non-food animals such as frogs fish birds predator insects etc the damage to these animals must be recognized as an environmental cost and taken serious the second point I'd like to make is did the studies compare apples with apples I mean I'm assuming the non-organic ground produce was sourced from legitimate farmers who do use pesticides and likely knew their produce was being tested and likely employ strict protocols according to state laws to ensure withholding periods are adhered to after chemical spraying etc before releasing the produce to retail if this is the case there shouldn't be any residual chemicals on the non-organic produce anyway if we are to believe consumer laws are indeed being upheld and protecting us then the non-organic food should be safe but is it as we know modern farming is a high-pressure market with diminishing margins so who's to say all commercial farms are abiding strictly by food chemical spraying and withholding standards there's evidence all around the world particularly in developing countries of pesticide misuse and chemical contamination of food why do you think wealthy Chinese people pay top dollar for Australian produce because they know farming here is professional and regulations on the use of chemicals are strict although I do fear that our standards are dropping and it seems beyond contradicts himself on this very point later in his video because he concedes organic foods are potentially safer by stating yes it is true that non-organic foods carry a higher risk of pesticide contamination but then he goes on to explain that the risk is almost non-existent because only 20 deaths per year in the USA can be contributed to pesticide contamination on food this claim is extraordinary because to me 20 deaths per year from pesticide exposure is 20 deaths too many don't you think be on also tries to frame organic farming as as bad as conventional farming due to the use of natural pesticides such as pee tharam citing a study done in 2002 which claimed an increase of up to three point seven times the chance of farmers acquiring leukemia compared to those who don't use it so what that just tells me farmers using chemicals regularly naturally based or not need to take precautions when handling these products but the argument he makes about producing being safe to eat isn't related at all furthermore comparing the use of PI Ephraim which has a potency value of just 24 hours to significantly more potent systemic pesticides used in conventional farming taking weeks or longer to break down is hardly a war winner and basically just another distraction and a week one at that also in the video beyond grabs the low-hanging fruit and elaborates on the fact that organic farming is not as productive as conventional farming yes he's right although just because conventional farming using chemicals is more productive than current organic farming methods it doesn't mean we should give up organic farming technology is improving year after year and it's the public support that helps to drive the quest for better efficiencies in organic farming I mean what's the alternative keep using more chemicals and upping the strength as pests and disease resistance grows there must come a point where commercial farming with more sophisticated chemicals becomes more expensive than the alternative organic methods humans first began farming using organic methods and it wasn't until much later when the use of chemicals was introduced and just because something is more productive than something else doesn't mean it's automatically better if we can keep supporting organic farmers and use organic methods ourselves I'm confident cleaner and greener methods of farming can improve and become more productive over time even better than conventional farming with chemicals isn't that what we should all want why can't we strive to find better and safer ways to farm food rather than relying on chemicals to control nature beyond sounds like his cheering on big AG and farmer companies whilst inadvertently hurting small businesses such as organic hobby farms who are the ones trying to innovate and improve the world by making it healthier for all living things I understand there's a place for chemicals in farming but there's a place for organics too and hopefully one day organics can lead the way out of our reliance on chemicals to grow enough food to sustain the world may are finished by saying I'm not a hardcore greenie but I do try to follow a common-sense approach when it comes to protecting the environment and limiting pollution wherever possible I believe organic farming large-scale or in our backyard really does help if you liked this video please give it a thumbs up and share it around that's really important spread the word also subscribe to the channel if you haven't already go to the website self-sufficient muqaam have a look at some of our written work thanks a lot for watching bye for now [Music] [Music]

Channel: Self Sufficient Me

Views: 37,193

Keywords: Is organic food better, is organic food safer, is organic farming a scam, organic, organic farming, growing organic, benefits of organic food, why grow organic, organic food, organic produce, why buy organic, why you should buy organic food, why should I buy organic, buy organic, is organic food legit, is organic food more nutritious, is organic food healthier, is organic food healthier than conventional food, why do you eat organic, homesteading, self sufficient me, fruit

Id: kCxP2aw_zp0

Length: 10min 42sec (642 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 29 2017