Ecobattiness, Back to nature, Kleenex principle, Brownlashers, Recycling
Let's start out by looking at a bottle of "Organic" pear and strawberry baby food and read the label. The first thing we discover is that the bottle (ingredients listed in order of preponderance) contains; Organically grown pears*, water necessary for processing, strawberry puree*, vitamin C and citric acid. Now if anyone ask, the water content of pears and strawberries is about 85 and 91 percent. Since water is listed as the second ingredient, then it may be added in just less than 50 percent to meet the labeling requirements. So, those pears and strawberries that you are feeding the kid is most likely ninety five percent water. Just for reference, apple juice contains about eighty eight percent water. "Solids" aren't always what they appear to be. Grandmothers of old knew that pectins in fruits permitted formation of nice solid appearing jams and jellies. Now the baby food manufacturer is offering a product with no obvious advantage other than a "solid" appearance to the gullible public at one whale of a markup.
The label also states; "NO ADDED Salt, Sugar, Fillers, Preservatives" Now it also could have said; the water was triple distilled, lead free, containing no chlorine, fluorine or iodine. Was pumped from deep wells rather than lakes or rivers and was pyrogen and pathogen free. The label doesn't say. And, that strawberry puree, was it just nice strawberries fresh from the patch, unwashed and uncleaned? Sure hope the picker had good sanitation habits. But let's assume they went through some semblance of processing. Most likely, the puree was a water added process. Now were the strawberries carefully picked to remove those damaged by birds and snails. Were they at the peak of ripeness and containing the maximum of acetone, acetaldehyde, methyl butyrate, ethyl caproate, hexyl acetate, methanol, acrolein, crotonaldehyde, acetic acid, crotonic acid, formaldehyde, and other natural ingredients, all provided by nature. Since the absolute amount may vary by plant species, growing conditions, &c;. we just don't know what the actual contents are.
Well how about vitamin C and citric acid. Both are most likely from your friends in the chemical industry. Vitamin C of course is added to prevent scurvy, the signs of which are marked weakness, anemia, spongy gums and hemorrhagic lesions. But citric acid, why is it there? The body forms plenty of citric acid in the metabolic scheme of things. Citric acid is added to allow the manufacturer to adjust batch-to-batch variation of the fruit so that the product taste pretty much the same and perhaps as a preservative! That's right, a preservative! It all depends on the amount of citric acid and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) that are added.
Well at least this "Organic" baby food is organic, right? Now it's time to read the footnote(*). Which states Certified Organically grown and processed in accordance with the CA Organic Foods Act of 1990 and Oregon TILTH standards. One of the problems of food labeling is there are actually few standards under which to judge the product by the printed word. To California and Oregon's credit they recognized the problem and have attempted to give the consumer some basis for judgement. However, the problem is not just one of writing laws, it requires careful definition of terms before the buyer is protected from the stretch of the imagination of a good ad writer.
The United States Department of Agriculture is involved in just such a task. They are about to announce the first national standards for "organically food products". According to their announcement, this will guarantee the consumers that they will get what they pay for! In small print, it will validate "pro-environment" efforts of organic farmers. Now what in the world does "pro-environment" have to do with "organic"?
Here is the definition of "organic". Organic agriculture is an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It is based on the minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony". So the USDA has sold out! Go ahead and use pesticides, fertilizers, plant growth regulators, &c;. Just make sure that it's "minimal use". Use night soil or barnyard manure on your strawberries, that's OK since you are enhancing ecological harmony! This is "organic"???
Here are their recommendations:
"Any product labeled as organic, such as a can of soup, should contain at least 95% organically grown ingredients. But a farmer could use synthetic copper compounds and some other substances to help control plant diseases.
All "organic livestock" would have to eat organically grown feed, not be kept in overcrowded conditions and "be allowed periodic access to the outdoors and direct sunlight." Farmers could use synthetic antibiotics if an animal became sick but not to promote growth.
Genetic modification to plants and animals would be considered synthetic and non-organic. Fields used to produce organic crops must be free of prohibited substances for at least three years."
Now I'm the first to applaud the United States Department of Agriculture for focusing their attention on our food supply and making sure that it is safe, plentiful and inexpensive. But, how can anyone of reasonable mind read the recommendations and draw a conclusion that they are doing any of the above;
safe - hardly, not a mention of food safety,
plentiful -this is completely out of step with producing foodstuffs in quantity. And when the bugs get started eating the tomato plants, who is going to pick each and every tomato horn worm off those plants? There goes the crop.
inexpensive - this approach ensures that there will be plenty of labor involved and the net effect of higher labor inputs is higher cost. Shoppers already see the premium added for so called "organic" produce. Take the baby food as an example, almost double the price for the same product.
Sorry USDA, you failed not only economics 101 but the majority of other basic courses related to government. We need good labeling laws but this is about as far from reality as you can get. How in good conscious can the Secretary of Agriculture permit something like this to come out of his shop. For Shame!
And as an added footnote, where is truth in advertising for the United Natural Foods product? They show on the label in prominent display, a picture of a baby, a carrot, a pod of peas, an apple and in the background, a pear. No Strawberry anywhere to be seen! And for the macabre or Charles Addam's fans, is there a touch of organic babies added perhaps just for flavor? Since many consumers either don't read the label (or can't), shouldn't the packager be required to show only those things on the label that are actually contained?
The final word in this emotional issue is safety. It is well and good to indulge in an activity if it's your body and soul alone that's the beneficiary. However, when you are talking about nutrition of a child it is another matter. Feeding an infant according to nutritional misconceptions can result in serious problems. Infants need salt in their diet! Following birth and up to the first year, they have limited stores of sodium and chloride ions in their blood and as they excrete sodium chloride (salt) in their urine, it must be replenished. What happens if it isn't. It's called water intoxication. The same effect can be achieved by giving an infant water rather than milk. The blood and other body fluids become diluted as proper ionic balance can not be maintained and the child may die or the brain may suffer damage that is permanent. No where is the admonition, SEE YOUR DOCTOR, more important than here.
So much for "Organic Foods". Think about it.
***
ABOUT Joe Wortham