The Rural Voice, 1990-07, Page 14HOG — BROILER — LAYER
TURKEY—BEEF—DAIRY
VEAL — FISH — PET FOODS
Announcement
Treleavens are now
dealers for Speedrite
Fencing Systems
COMPLETE LINE
OF ANIMAL FEED AND
VETERINARY SUPPLIES
TRELEAVEN'S
LUCKNOW FEED
MILL
Lucknow
519-528-3000
or
1-800-265-3006
0 THE RURAL VOICE
CONVENTIONAL
WISDOM
Adrian Vos, from Huron County, has
contributed to The Rural Voice since
its inception in 1975.
Lately the promoters of organically
grown food have been issuing ecstatic
reports that demand for "organic" food
is growing at an accelerated pace.
But now it appears that the mouth
is often bigger than the wallet. The
newsletter of the Potato Growers
Marketing Board reports that organic
sales are only a fraction above one per
cent of total sales. Even organic sales
in specialty produce stores don't
exceed two per cent.
This in the face of surveys that
indicate consumers are willing to pay
more.
According to the newsletter, the
Canadian Restaurant and Food Ser-
vices Association advises its members
to leave organics to the expensive
restaurants. Shrinkage for organic
food is close to 25 per cent, compared
to 5 to 6 per cent for conventionally
produced food.
Farmers who contemplate switch-
ing to organics to take advantage of
higher prices should go slowly. If the
cost of organic production is more
than that of conventional production,
markets should first be investigated.
Some organic farmers have acknowl-
edged that if every farmer went organ-
ic the high price would disappear.
And the government's food inspec-
tors must be getting fed up with those
who doubt their skills. They have
begun to speak up in defence of their
test results. Even with the most soph-
isticated equipment, they are unable
to tell in the lab if food is produced
organically or conventionally.
Even the environment is not
always better off because of organic
farming. While some groups do
minimal or no tilling, others promote
sub -soiling, or deep plowing, which
contributes to erosion.
The cat is also out of the bag as re-
gards pesticides and organics. Lately,
organic farmers have been accused in
the farm press of using unauthorized,
homemade pesticides. The organic
brew made from chrysanthemum
leaves, pyrethrum, is similar to com-
mercial pesticides, like DDT. The
only difference is that the chemical
version lasts a few days as against a
few hours for the home brew.
More and more we hear the acron-
ym LISA, which stands for Low Input
Sustainable Agriculture. This is often,
in the minds of urban people, connect-
ed to that other buzzword, environ-
mentally "friendly." Such buzzwords
excite the health freaks and the en-
vironmental activists. They sound so
very reasonable and indisputable.
Successful Farming reports that
American lecturer and humorist Walt
Buescher wants to assist urbanites by
founding LISUC (Low Input Sustain-
able Urban Culture). This new organ-
ization would promote a ban on urban
pesticides such as soap, toothpaste,
mouthwash, and sprays for rose-
bushes, cockroaches, and bedbugs.
These poisons are also contrary to
animal rights, he contends.
My mother never threw the old
laundry water away, at least in sum-
mer. She used that toxic water to kill
the aphids on her rosebushes. Today
it is dumped in our septic tanks or in
the sewers.
Looking into that space under the
sink and in the medicine cabinet, we
can add a number of products to the
poisons urban and rural people alike
routinely flush into our environment.
None is environmentally "friendly."
The Maitland Conservation
Authority says that pollution of Lake
Huron beaches around the river's
mouth is caused mainly by faulty sep-
tic systems. Small wonder: with our
household poisons we kill the bacteria
that make the septic system work.
Before accusing others of
degrading the environment, we all
should take a good look closer to
home — including the kitchen sink.0