thanx for the lead on nutra farming

"Lena B Katz" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> On Thu, 3 Mar 2005, -- wrote:
>
> >
> > "johny b" > wrote in message
> > oups.com...
> >> I've recently been trying to eat mostly organic food for a healthier
> >> diet. Here in NJ we have Wholefoods and health shoppe (i'm sure there
> >> are many more, i just haven't found them out yet). Upon researching on
> >> the internet, there seems to be many debates as to what is considered
> >> and sold as organic at stores. Some claims have been made that the
> >> USDA allows some pesticides to be used yet still be labled as organic.
> >> I would just like to hear some opinions as to how much healthier the
> >> food in these stores which claim to be organic really is. Is this a
> >> hoax etc.? Any information regardling what to look for and what to
> >> lookout for, or any valuable details is most appreciated. Thanks!
> >>
> >
> > I remember an experiment done a few years back with two nearly adjacent
> > fields of cabbages in California, if I remember the location correctly .
> > One was grown "organically" - no pesticides, etc., and the other grown
> > commercially - side-dressed fertilizer and 1/8 tsp/acre in one
application
> > of pesticide. The field test was done to check any differences in
product or
> > soil.
> >
> > When they tested the crops after harvest, the organically grown cabbages
> > could not pass the import levels test for pesticides. Apparently they
had
> > been attacked by insects at least once, and created their own natural
> > insecticides.
> > The commercial ones passed without traces.
> >
> > (I remember from survival training as well as from my plant specialist
> > father that most plants will make their own pesticides -as alkoids, if I
> > remember right-
> > The training noted that some plants will be poisonous when attacked by
> > insects, so use caution around otherwise edible plants showing fair to
heavy
> > insect damage - for example, cherry leaves become poisonous to humans
later
> > in the year, and several varieties of trees when attacked by army worms
will
> > put out toxins that about ten days after the first attack will kill any
> > worm.)
> >
> > However, if the organic cabbages had not been attacked by insects, then
they
> > would not have created their own insecticides.
> >
> > There are of course other reasons to chose organic - flavor, variation,
etc.
> > A lot of commercial agricultural products are sawdust flavored clones.
> >
> > Also, I would note that it is rare that much fertilizer or insecticide
is
> > washed off any more, and likely is less damaging than green fiber being
put
> > back from some organic farming techniques which lets deleterious soil
> > leeching of fines and natural organic fertilizer salts occur (plant
can't
> > take up organics like animals - they have to have inorganic salt in
solution
> > to enter the hair roots. Undigested plant matter holds the soil open and
> > lets water wash minerals out)
> > Bottom line here is that fertilizer and insecticide washoff is that it
is
> > too expensive and the farming profit margins too low to throw gobs on a
> > field and let it run off, wasted.
> >
> > Some organic farming is supposedly soil-sustainable, and uses limited
> > pyrethrin-type pesticides on an as-needed basis. If I knew which
categaory
> > that was, I'd probably buy it.
>
> try nutra-farmed foods. the only stuff i've seen advertising it is
> Basmati rice, but I'll _walk_ to the store to buy it.
>
> lena
>
> nutrafarming is _intelligent_ farming. as little pesticides as necessary,
> and _all_ the tricks in the book, organic/traditional/modern.