Monday, April 17, 2017

Musings: Oh, the Irony

I love irony, especially the unintentional sort, which the Urban Dictionary defines as “bulldada.”

It's frequently apparent in the “anti” crowd, which, as I have oft noted, seems devoid of introspection:
Yes, Andrew Kimbrell and Ashley Lukens, if only you would let the scientists speak. Because the suppression of science — aka, following the anti-GMO playbook — is indeed a real buzz kill.

Here's another choice example, from Gary Hooser's Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action. They got to waxing philosophic about their recent crop of Kuleana Academy cadets:

The discussion on what it means to be pono calls on these graduates to make a commitment to exercise that power with courage and integrity, and to question that power at each turn. It invites this community of graduates to call each other out if someone acts in way that is not pono. [But be prepared to be trashed and ostracized if you dare question the antis' power structure, tactics or funding sources.] 

Stepping up is not easy. It takes courage, strength of character, and a strong moral compass. By nurturing a community of thoughtful and accountable leaders, we are investing in a pono future for Hawai‘i.

And you do that by refusing to reveal HAPA's funding sources and violating federal laws regarding lobbying and the support of partisan politics by nonprofit “public charities?” Uh, guys, if the seed is bad, it ain't gonna produce good fruit.

Meanwhile, Hooser demonstrates his own lack of integrity:
Then there's the irony of America's increasing appetite for organic food, as stimulated by the antis, who are heavily funded by the organics industry:

Once a net exporter of organic products, the United States now spends more than $1 billion a year to import organic food, according to the USDA, and the ratio of imported to exported products is now about 8-to-1.

Many of these organic imports are grown in the European Union, where more than 140,000 farmers are meeting Europe's weaker organic standards on 12.6 million acres of farmland.

One of the biggest exporters is Romania, which relies on cheap labor — the average pay is $485 per month. Another big exporter of organics is China, where both standards and safety are suspect. Once you start factoring in the carbon load, the weaker standards and the labor exploitation factors, organics get an even uglier profile. But hey, main thing the American consumer can pretend to be pure and righteous while chanting the mantra: support your local farmer. Even if he/she is Romanian or Chinese.

Some folks in a recent comment thread on this site got into claiming that GMO food is bad because it's making everyone fat. Hmm. So will they support genetically engineered gut microbes that appear to reduce obesity?

And what about the irony of paying more for a product with the “Non-GMO Project” sticker when there isn't even a GMO version of that particular food, like almonds? Greg Jaffe has a good blog post on that subject.
Or the irony of Simon Russell, president of the Hawaii Farmers Union United Haleakala Chapter, bemoaning the fickle, fearful consumers — you know, the kind the antis cultivate — who are cutting back on local lettuce and kale purchases because they're afraid of consuming the rat lungworm parasite:

“We can put robots on Mars. Why can’t we get rid of rats?”

Mmm, we can, Simon. But it's going to require either the extensive use of rodenticides — you know, the poisons you hate — or a helluva lot of live trapping and killing.

And let's not forget the irony of all those folks who would farm — if only all the land wasn't already poisoned — and their pals, the well-intentioned, but clueless, who figure all they need is Google, a government grant and their other non-farming comrades in Hawaii Farmers Union United:

Anybody interested in a north shore community garden. There are ag lots for sale near dole plantation. The biggest parcel is 18.37acres. At $70,000 per acre, that comes to $1,285,900. If 50 people want to split that, it comes to $25,718 per person. For the money you get 16,803sqft of farm land. Thats almost 1/2 an acre for $25k. We can get a board together with leaders and rules, maybe some kind of community building at the farm. Maybe we can have individual plots or just make a big, permaculture style food forest. Not to live there, just a farming project
Yeah, and all ya gotta do is sell 25,718 bunches of kale at $1 each to make your money back! Oh, the market is flooded because everyone else is growing kale, too, but nobody's buying it because of rat lungworm? Oops....

Of course, sometimes irony morphs into an outright oxymoron, as in:

Center for Food Safety | Fact Sheets

I'll leave you with this updated version of the Alanis Morissette classic:

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hahahahaha!!!!

Thanks, Joan. Needed a laugh this day before taxes are due.

For those of us who pay them, that is.

Anonymous said...

Wow, rat lungworms disease. I thought miss Lukens was going to come over and show me that by simply washing my vegetables in warm water and spraying them with vinegar kills the parasites. Guess she was busy tattooing some monstrosity on her body or suing the hell out of someone. Anyway, wash those veggies folks, then spray with vinegar before consuming. You are welcome Ashley, I'll take my royalty check from CFS now.

Manuahi said...

“Once a net exporter of organic products, the United States now spends more than $1 billion a year to import organic food, according to the USDA, and the ratio of imported to exported products is now about 8-to-1.” “Europe's weaker organic standards”

I this an example of SUSTAINABILITY?

“Romania… China” ???

I’m sure we can trust them to not lie on their use of pesticides or harmful ingredients as they did with pet food and babies’ milk.

“Yeah, and all ya gotta do is sell 25,718 bunches of kale at $1 each to make your money back!”

Oops! Don't forget about paying G.E. taxes off the top (like Gary Hooser did) and insurance for your operation so you don’t get sued when someone gets sick or hurt on your commercial operation. Then there's the gas to get there and the gas to get the produce to a market that won't take your piddling small about of produce that doesn't come with any regularity. You know, like the woofers who will jump at the chance to do free volunteer work for you.

Anonymous said...

Relax! Rumania and China have a volunteer organic certification program similar to Kauai's Good Neighbor Policy! No need laws or government enforcement, just trust!

Anonymous said...

The state refuses to monitor toxic pollution and uses the scapegoat of saying the EPA is responsible to monitor when they know that the EPA will be under funded and man power will be cut in half.

This is why counties have the responsibilities to ensure that their islands are protected from toxic poisoning.

Keep the fight on against the Chem/Bio Cartels!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
The state refuses to monitor toxic pollution

That's bullshit

Anonymous said...

The counties have a duty to protect us from the ignorant, expensive, and wasteful manufactured hysterical demands of idiots prodded on by sinister, secretive and prevaricating non profits in the grip of Big Throbbing Organics.

Anonymous said...

Rosanne Barre, super models carb loading for marathons, you get fat from eating organic food, and now organic food is from China?

Anonymous said...

Look on the bright side, without the organic high makamaka types there would less tax money to support all those GMO eating EBT types.

Anonymous said...

Wow did you think of that all by yourself @6:51

Anonymous said...

Do you know where toxic pesticides originated from and why they are banned from the countries that created such poisons?

Manuahi said...

Whitney-assed activists disappear in Rumania and China.

Anonymous said...

I just forced myself to watch "SEED". What a bunch of bullshit!

Malia Chun, Howard Hurst, Hooser, Vandana, Jeffrey Smith all lying their heads off.

Can't believe PBS stoops to this level.

Anonymous said...

7:22 Yes, organic food is coming from China

https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/foreign-policy/item/25512-organic-foods-from-china-buyer-beware

http://organic-market.info/news-in-brief-and-reports-article/china-one-of-the-top-4-organic-markets-worldwide.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2516578/

https://gain.fas.usda.gov/Recent%20GAIN%20Publications/Organics%20Annual_Beijing_China%20-%20Peoples%20Republic%20of_10-14-2010.pdf

In 1990, China exported its first organic product, certified organic tea, to Europe. Today, domestic production of Chinese certified organic foods is primarily for export, serving international markets in
North America, Europe, and Japan. Products include honey, soy powder, beans, sesame, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, grains, oil, vegetables, fruits, beverages, dairy, poultry, and aquaculture. From 1995 to 2006, the export value of organic foods rose from $300,000 to $350 million, with an annual growth rate of 30 percent. In 2007, more than 2,500 organic enterprises produced and sold organic products domestically and for export. The organic sector is still in its preliminary stages, and most exports are in raw form with minimal processing. In the last two years, a few highly processed products, such as organic chocolates, beverages, cleansers, and personal care products, have entered the domestic
market.

Anonymous said...

Yes, we know "organic" food is coming from China. But do we know if it meets USDA certified organic standards and is safe to consume?

I do my best to avoid it but country of origin is not always labeled.

Anonymous said...

Why don't all you copy and pasters take a break from your ground breaking computer research and go see for yourself how much food is from China. Start at one of the health food stores on the island and count how many products are organic and from China, while your at it count all the fat people too. Then go to one of the traditional grocery stores and count how many non organics are from China and how many fat people.

Anonymous said...

And I would love to here how many carb loading supermodels training for a marathon you come across too.

Anonymous said...

Hula hoops, Pokémon, leg warmers, bell bottom jeans, pogo sticks, scratch n sniff stickers, twerking, tube tops, mood rings, yoyos, waterbeds, Jane Fonda aerobics, cabbage patch dolls, and organic foods. These will go down as some of the all-time fads to hit our country. Someday we'll all laugh at those who went "all in" on the organic life. Actually, some of us have already been laughing at them for a while now.

Anonymous said...

In the meantime, cancer, obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, type-2 diabetes, osteoporosis ... is doing wonders for the GMO fads legacy @7:07

Joan Conrow said...

@8:01 Not one of those diseases is actually caused by GMOs. If you want to address people's dietary habits, fine, but don't make like biotechnology is the culprit. Organic cheese puffs are no better than those made with GMO corn. There's plenty of junky processed food on the shelves of "health food" stores.

Anonymous said...

"Americans eat far more sugar than is good for them. And while virtually all corn grown in the U.S. is genetically modified, making HFCS sure to be a GMO product, table sugar aka sucrose or cane sugar is extracted from beets, another major GMO crop."

Joan Conrow said...

I see you're intent on missing the point.

Again, it's not biotechnology. The body doesn't recognize sugar derived from organic cane any differently than sugar derived from GMO sugar beets.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely, 9:56PM. They are all on the list of major GMO importing countries.

Anonymous said...

Look at Vandana Shiva. She eats organic and she's obese.

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's quite a list of obese people who eat organic food that has been compiled so far: Rosanne Barr (who lost over 100 pounds because she started eating organic food) , an anonymous person (who says she eats organic and is not proud that she is fat), and Vandana Shiva (who apparently lies about everything except that she only eats organic food).

Anonymous said...

No forget Gary, Fern, Malia and Oprah. (Who said it was a woman who admitted being fat? Misogynist assumption?)

Anonymous said...

If you go to http://www.oprah.com/health/oprahs-seven-day-food-diary and look at her "Oprah's 7-Day Food Diary" there is very little organic food @11:04.

Anonymous said...

Right from the GMO playbook. Lie and accuse everybody else of lying and then change the topic I venture to say not only does Oprah not follow an organic diet nor does Gary, Malia, or Fern. They are fighting for pesticide disclosure and you want to pretend they are following an organic diet because they are fat. Great alternative facts you got there.

Joan Conrow said...

@12:2 Boy, talk about projection! Nobody does "lie and change the topic" like the antis!

Who knows, or cares, what Fern, Gary and Malia eat? But they aren't just fighting for pesticide disclosure. They are solidly anti-GMO. So check your own alternative facts.

To close this discussion, people can get fat, or slim, eating organic or GMO foods.

Anonymous said...

Joan attracts the moronic/crazy like a crab trap. Insanity runs deep in the left.