From: dc_ags@ac.nsac.ns.ca (Don Christie)
Subject: Re: Organic Farming: As good as they say?
Reply-To: dc_ags@ac.nsac.ns.ca
Organization: Nova Scotia Agricultural College, Nova Scotia, CANADA
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 13:25:13 GMT

In article <1992Nov9.022357.2320@mcs.kent.edu>, flynn@Condor.mcs.kent.edu (Mark Flynn) writes:
>I suggest that Mr. Kilen create a new newsgroup for his posting. Perhaps
>alt.status.quo.agriculture, or alt.nonsustainable.agriculture? 

I don't think I agree with this statement. It's not because I'm pro-chemical
or because I think the status quo is the way to go either, but because Mr. K.
has a right to express himself.... 

Let me clarify what I am trying to say. I think that agrochemical use today
has and is continuing to cause serious damage to the environment. It 
undoubtedly has effects on the health of not only humans, but essentially
all species that come in contact with them.... to some extent or another.

However, I feel that much of the literature which describes deleterious 
chemical effects is biased and unreliable. Chemicals seem to have become
synonymous with cancer. [as an aside, I'd like to state that I don't take
cancer lightly at all... my best friend has terminal cancer] 

I think in many cases the chemical-cancer connection is overplayed by the
anti-chemical lobby... They seem to capitalize on the fact that the general
public doesn't have enough chemical background to make informed decisions
about these topics. 

I'd like to use a little bandwidth to relate a story which exemplifies what
I'm getting at. A friend of mine was sitting at my kitchen table a year or
so ago eating a bag of potato chips. He was reading the list of ingredients
at the bottom of the bag, and the tone of his voice alone was enough to
show his displeasure... things like "may contain hydrogenated vegetable oil"
and other ingredients specified in chemical terms frightened him. 

Being a bit of a devilish type myself, I asked him "what does it say about
dihydrogen monoxide levels?" He read for a couple of minutes and couldn't find
any mention of dihydrogen monoxide.... so he got a bit flustered and went into
a long-winded tirade about how we were being poisoned to death by chemicals
and that it wasn't even safe to eat a bag of chips!.... Anyway, I capitalized
on the situation a bit... I told him that dihydrogen monoxide contamination
in chips was a REAL bad thing... at this point, his eyes got big and he once
again carefully read the list of ingredients. Finally, he looked up and
asked "what does that stuff do, anyway?" 

I told him once again that dihydrogen monoxide contamination in chips was
a real bad thing... it makes them soggy! His comments aren't suitable for
this newsgroup, but suffice it to say that he'd had enough chemistry for
one day!

The moral of the story? Simple... before you shoot off your mouth and make
a fool of yourself, it would help if you learned a bit about the subject at
hand. Lack of understanding in terms of pesticides and other agrichemicals
is the biggest single factor impeding progress... from BOTH sides of the
argument.




//Don
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Who ELSE could have written The Adventures of Wild Bill Groady??