- Posts tagged organic
- Explore organic on posterous
What’s wrong with our food system
11-year-old Birke Baehr presents his take on a major source of our food — far-away and less-than-picturesque industrial farms. Keeping farms out of sight promotes a rosy, unreal picture of big-box agriculture, he argues, as he outlines the case to green and localize food production.
The organic world of BULLSHIT!
"The first rule of BS is to expect it... If you want to detect BS, you have to swallow some cynicism and add some internal doubt to everything you hear... The first detection tool is a question: How do you know what you know?"
Two years ago today became the day when every trip I took to the grocery store started to be an agonizing, tormenting episode. That day, I came relentlessly to the conclusion that the organic world was entirely filled with bullshit, lies and irrefutable illusions. The story begun right at the moment I heard of this fad. As soon as that happened, I knew I had to question it. It amounted to feel like I was surrounded with friends and acquaintances who were all in a state of helplessness and had acquired a sort of blind faith in the Utopian idea of the mass marketed promises of organic goods.
The gullibility and callowness of the quite numerous shoppers of 'organic' food started to inflect a sort of nauseating drama in my thoughts that I realized I really needed to do something against that fact and inform my friends of this fantastic sham. An empiricist at heart, what had started out to be a skeptical inquiry became a hobby then pure obsession which ultimately lead to Diplomatic Goods; the world's first open standard for organic goods. An endeavour which we hope will fulfil the expectations of this deficient industry and address the misfortunes of the well intended organic idea.
new EU law on organic agriculture is a step backwards for France
France will lose its familiar green Agriculture Biologique (AB) label next year. New rules came into effect on Jan 1, 2009 aimed at harmonizing standards among the 27 European Union nations on organic agriculture. While the text seeks to simplify and impose common standards, the net effect for countries like France is to considerably lower the barrier for organic agriculture. According to a poll conducted by the CSA/Agence Bio in 2008, 85 percent of French people know the AB label and use it as a reference for consumer decisions.
Under the EU law, national labels will disappear in July 2010 to be replaced by a mandatory European logo, which is currently the object of a contest open to EU art or design students.
On the positive side, new products like wine, plants, seeds, yeast and aquaculture will be classified under the new label. The new legislation upholds the fundamental principles of organic agriculture: ie a ban on the use of chemical pesticides, respect for animal welfare, a ban on the deliberate introduction of GM crops.
However, a doorway has been opened to accidental GM contamination from neighbouring fields, on the condition that the traces of GM crops are less than 0.9 % of the total weight of the product. Furthermore, contrary to previous French legislation, pig and poultry farmers no longer have to produce at least 40 percent of their animal feed on site. Finally, the new legislation has fewer restrictions on antibiotic treatments (three annual treatments are now permitted. Poultry can now be sold at 70 days compared with the former minimum of 81 days and anti-parasite treatments are now allowed.
French organic producers, for their part, intend to roll out their own, more demanding set of criteria starting from January 2010 in order to maintain their high standards. Standards aside, it is worth noting that France – Europe’s top pesticide user – is a big laggard when it comes to organic agriculture in terms of surface area planted. Only 2 percent of land in France is farmed organically, compared with the European average of 4-5 percent. Best performers among the 27 are Austria (13 percent), Estonia, Latvia and Italy (9 percent) and Greece (8 percent).
stalk your clothes from seed to sold with Made-By track & trace
Photo credit: Made-By
A late-morning tweet by @ecofashionista reminded me that it's been three years since we last checked in on Made-By, an independent, Amsterdam-based consumer label that encourages sustainable and ethical practices in the fashion industry through production-chain transparency. Made-By hits the big leagues Since 2005, the number of brands associated with Made-By has mushroomed from four to almost 30, including bold-face name.
via TreeHugger on 5/25/09
will you pay $195 for an organic cotton tee?
Photo credit: Gucci Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Sergio Rossi, Bottega Veneta, and Yves Saint Laurent are going green, according to Vanity Fair—well, sorta. Call it a case of "brand synergy;" the Gucci Group fashion houses are presenting their high-end interpretations of sustainable style, if only to promote Yann Arthus-Betrand's epic cinematic outing about the state of the planet, which happens to be sponsored by the brands' parent company, PPR.
Home, which expands upon the aerial-photographer-turned-filmaker's groundbreaking "Earth from Above" photo project, will premier on World Environmental Day on June 5—in 14 languages and in over 87 countries—across every conceivable medium simultaneously: movie theaters, television, the Internet, and on DVD, as well as at several public-viewing forums in New York, Paris, London, and Boston, including Stella McCartney's store in West Hollywood.
To mark this ambitious event, the crown jewels of PPR's fashion pantheon will be releasing limited-edition, eco-friendly goods that will benefit GoodPlanet.org, an environmental charity that Arthus-Betrand founded four years ago.
Frida Giannini, Gucci's creative director, flexed his design muscle with a $195 organic cotton T-shirt, branded with both Gucci and Home's logos in front and listing the 54 countries covered by the film on the back. Alexander McQueen has unveiled a $285 organic cotton scarf featuring a dying earth morphed into a skull, while Sergio Rossi will be introducing a stiletto shoe dubbed the "Eco Pump," made from liquid wood and vegetable-tanned leather.
At Bottega Veneta, customers who spend more than $1,500 at the label's Paris, Milan, and New York stores will receive an exclusive tote, and Yves Saint Laurent devotees can expect to see co-branded T-shirts, tanks, and bags in organic cotton.
via TreeHugger on 5/26/09
