- Location
- Haute Vienne, France
No, No and No.
Your thoughts on Organic Food
- Thread starter Townie
- Start date
No, No and No.
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
I think that about sums it up.
@Townie , contrary to what the Soil Association would have you believe, 'conventional' farmers don't drown everything in pesticides, or force feed their livestock with antibiotics. They (we) do however treat as and when it's needed, much as you or I might go to the doctor or pharmacist for medication if we feel unwell. To treat animals or crops in any other manner is economic nonsense, quite apart from any moral obligations we may feel about saving the planet.
FonterraFarmer
Member
- Location
- Waikato, New Zealand
If you buy organic food you have been sucked into the myth that it is better than conventionally grown food, and are prepared to spend more to get it, just another marketing con job!
Nice avatar !
Nice avatar
!
Old Boar
Member
- Location
- West Wales
If we know how the general public think about farming, we can act to change that perception into something that reflects what we actually do.
No, I'm not some animal rights nutter, badgers need controlling
exmoor dave
Member
- Location
- exmoor, uk
Don't like steak or roasted meat, but will eat soft meat in sandwidches, salads, that sort of stuff. I guess not really a veggie
fair enough. can't argue with that.
- Location
- Ceredigion
You could be the link farmers need, 'the voice'Gosh you lot must really hate me by now
So, knowing next to nothing about farming as I have explained previously, I have only heard what the media wish to tell us about organic food & farming (probably like most of the population).
We don't particularly eat organic food / meat, I am a veggie anyway and I don't really care where the food comes from as long as it is relatively fresh. I struggle to justify the price hike for organic food.
Having found another thread on here last night about the Soil Association, my thoughts about the whole thing were somewhat confirmed.
Do you lot buy any Organic Food? Is organic food really produced more 'naturally' and 'healthily' as the media would have us believe?
exmoor dave
Member
- Location
- exmoor, uk
you can be a organic farmer but sell your produce as conventional but not the other way around.
nice avatar.....a selfie?
Big Al
Member
- Location
- Middlewich
I think that about sums it up.
@Townie , contrary to what the Soil Association would have you believe, 'conventional' farmers don't drown everything in pesticides, or force feed their livestock with antibiotics. They (we) do however treat as and when it's needed, much as you or I might go to the doctor or pharmacist for medication if we feel unwell. To treat animals or crops in any other manner is economic nonsense, quite apart from any moral obligations we may feel about saving the planet.
Whilst that may be true of most extensive farming systems can the same be said of broiler houses. Are chickens still allowed to be fed antibiotics as a growth promoter?
Walterp
Member
- Location
- Pembrokeshire
Well, perhaps some sympathy.walter....... i'm disappointed- are you a closet organic farmer
But I've absolutely no faith in the views of farmers 'bout what's safe or not - seen too many sheep farmers plunge-dipping their sheep in their shirt-sleeves to believe that they know what they're doing, let alone saying, about chemicals.
EDIT: it's the farmers, not the sheep, that were in shirt-sleeves...
Princess Pooper
Member
- Location
- East Mids
We do not farm organically and I don't buy organic produce. I do eat our own meat and milk and I grow some of our own fruit and veg which does not usually get sprayed but gets non-organic fym and slug pellets. I have every respect for organic farmers as farming is hard enough even using all the tools at our disposal without then making some of them 'out of bounds' or last resort. However, I also know of several organic farmers who do not farm as sustainably as conventional. One has just turned away from organic dairy farming and when I asked him about his nutrient budgets for his soils (ideally you are balancing what you apply to the land with what is being taken off) he said they didn't even consider them. Organic farmers do need a higher price for their produce as their yields are usually lower and input costs sometimes higher, but the supermarkets then also expect a higher margin off organic produce which is completely unjustified. There are also a lot of misconceptions about organic farming / food e.g. organic livestock can be treated with antibiotics when necessary (animal welfare is quite rightly the over-riding consideration) but they have longer periods in which they then have to withold produce from the food chain. In terms of biodiversity etc a traditional mixed livestock and cropping farm can have as many benefits as organic farming. Organic farming does have some sound principles which many conventional farmers also use - eg crop rotation, recycling manures etc The organic organisations eg Soil Association have a very patronising 'holier than thou' attitude and are always slagging off conventional farming and trying to convince the public how dangerous it is which does embarrass some if its members!
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
Unless you run more than one unit, even on the same farm. IIRC, you can be organic for livestock, but not arable and vice versa, or run separate organic & non-organic flocks/herds.
jimmer
Member
- Location
- East Devon
you can be a organic farmer but sell your produce as conventional but not the other way around.
nice avatar.....a selfie?
easy david
exmoor dave
Member
- Location
- exmoor, uk
for research purposes....honestly!
its pretty remote up in these hills, I might not know what a townie looks like if one was to wander in to the yard
- Location
- Ceredigion
That's all a thing of the past, Townie can eat in confidence as his food is farm assured, he pays extra to have his food inspected a 1000 times and more
Campbell
Member
- Location
- Herefordshire
Just watching McCartney on the Jools Holland show. I'll have what he's been having all these years!!
Expanded and improved Sustainable Farming Incentive offer for farmers published
Expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive offer from July will give the sector a clear path forward and boost farm business resilience.
From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and The Rt Hon Sir Mark Spencer MP Published21 May 2024
Full details of the expanded and improved Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer available to farmers from July have been published by the...
From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and The Rt Hon Sir Mark Spencer MP Published21 May 2024
Full details of the expanded and improved Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer available to farmers from July have been published by the...