5 ms·

In what way would irradiation make a food not-organic? I believe you, it seems stupid enough to be true.

eggpy 9y ago
The USDA designates that to be stamped 'certified organic' the food can't be processed via irradiation, simple as that[0]. [0] https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2011/12/16/organic-101-what-organic-farming-and-processing-doesnt-allow https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2011/12/16/organic-101-what-...
gowld 9y ago
USDA rules aside, how would you define "organic". It's a rather ... synthetic concept to begin with.
- makr17 9y ago
  Contains carbon?
  - logfromblammo 9y ago
    If it's good enough for my chemistry professors, it's good enough for me. Is there any way to regulate marketing terms so that hippy-dippy ad-men don't seize upon words that have meaning and then proceed to dilute that meaning with steaming loads of nonsense? I'd be happy enough if a label said "this has never touched poop".
- vkou 9y ago
  I believe it's defined as 'you feel good after buying it'. It's why petro-chemical fertilizers, or the crops grown with them are in-organic, but passing corn grown with petro-chemical fertilizers through the digestive system of a cow magically makes said fertilizer organic.
- brians 9y ago
  Produced using processes that we've tested for centuries. We're not sure they work, but we're sure they're not ridiculously dangerous. Contrast glyphosate.
  - gruez 9y ago
    >Produced using processes that we've tested for centuries. We're not sure they work, but we're sure they're not ridiculously dangerous. There's a bunch of stuff that we "tested for centuries" and thought were safe... until they weren't. see: lead, smoking, asbestos, cured meats.
    - John_KZ 9y ago
      You can still buy all of these things if you want. They come with the appropriate labeling. I'm sorry if your concern is purely linguistic, but "organic" isn't a reserved word. Benzol is organic too. Organic laws are a thing too. Different kinds of organic. Some people want to eat the same way people ate for millennia. Good for them. It's one of the benefits of living in a free market society. People have mistakenly thought a lot of things to be safe or dangerous, but if something has been working for thousands of years, even imperfectly, it carries a guarantee nobody else can provide. Finally I don't understand why people are so angry at organic produce. I rarely buy it too, but what's the big deal? It sounds like they need to prove something. I don't get it.
      - gruez 9y ago
        >but if something has been working for thousands of years, even imperfectly, it carries a guarantee nobody else can provide. my point is that the guarantee is a very weak one, and one based on tradition rather than facts. something being used for thousands of years merely means it doesn't cause harm in small enough timescales so that people can associate it with the effects. see: smoking, which is dangerously poisonous, but the effects are on such long timescales that its negative effects are dissociated from it. >Finally I don't understand why people are so angry at organic produce. I rarely buy it too, but what's the big deal? It sounds like they need to prove something. I don't get it. I guess the anger is directed to both the people that are gullible enough to buy it and continue to perpetuate the myth that it's somehow better, and the companies pushing organic produce (by exploiting said ignorance, and perpetuating said ignorance as a way to sell high margin produce)
- SlowRobotAhead 9y ago
  I don't know how I'd define organic... But the on list of disqualifying things - "subjected to a specific wavelength of light for a moment" wouldn't be one of them.
  - goldenkey 9y ago
    Damn, I was really hoping Superman ate organic lettuce from Krypton but I guess the USDA would reject the super lettuce on grounds of that red sun ;-)
- John_KZ 9y ago
  I hope you don't mind if I expose you to a specific wavelength of light for a moment and witness chances in your chemical composition. You get a pretty green stamp too.
wwweston 9y ago
Probably depends on what your definition of "organic" is (I mean, isn't nearly all food organic?). I'd imagine many people are coming at it as something like "not produced or processed via industrial processes." And irradiation would probably be considered an industrial process.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

The USDA designates that to be stamped 'certified organic' the food can't be processed via irradiation, simple as that[0]. [0] https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2011/12/16/organic-101-what-organic-farming-and-processing-doesnt-allow https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2011/12/16/organic-101-what-...

gowld 9y ago

USDA rules aside, how would you define "organic". It's a rather ... synthetic concept to begin with.

makr17 9y ago
Contains carbon?
- logfromblammo 9y ago
  If it's good enough for my chemistry professors, it's good enough for me. Is there any way to regulate marketing terms so that hippy-dippy ad-men don't seize upon words that have meaning and then proceed to dilute that meaning with steaming loads of nonsense? I'd be happy enough if a label said "this has never touched poop".
vkou 9y ago
I believe it's defined as 'you feel good after buying it'. It's why petro-chemical fertilizers, or the crops grown with them are in-organic, but passing corn grown with petro-chemical fertilizers through the digestive system of a cow magically makes said fertilizer organic.
brians 9y ago
Produced using processes that we've tested for centuries. We're not sure they work, but we're sure they're not ridiculously dangerous. Contrast glyphosate.
- gruez 9y ago
  >Produced using processes that we've tested for centuries. We're not sure they work, but we're sure they're not ridiculously dangerous. There's a bunch of stuff that we "tested for centuries" and thought were safe... until they weren't. see: lead, smoking, asbestos, cured meats.
  - John_KZ 9y ago
    You can still buy all of these things if you want. They come with the appropriate labeling. I'm sorry if your concern is purely linguistic, but "organic" isn't a reserved word. Benzol is organic too. Organic laws are a thing too. Different kinds of organic. Some people want to eat the same way people ate for millennia. Good for them. It's one of the benefits of living in a free market society. People have mistakenly thought a lot of things to be safe or dangerous, but if something has been working for thousands of years, even imperfectly, it carries a guarantee nobody else can provide. Finally I don't understand why people are so angry at organic produce. I rarely buy it too, but what's the big deal? It sounds like they need to prove something. I don't get it.
    - gruez 9y ago
      >but if something has been working for thousands of years, even imperfectly, it carries a guarantee nobody else can provide. my point is that the guarantee is a very weak one, and one based on tradition rather than facts. something being used for thousands of years merely means it doesn't cause harm in small enough timescales so that people can associate it with the effects. see: smoking, which is dangerously poisonous, but the effects are on such long timescales that its negative effects are dissociated from it. >Finally I don't understand why people are so angry at organic produce. I rarely buy it too, but what's the big deal? It sounds like they need to prove something. I don't get it. I guess the anger is directed to both the people that are gullible enough to buy it and continue to perpetuate the myth that it's somehow better, and the companies pushing organic produce (by exploiting said ignorance, and perpetuating said ignorance as a way to sell high margin produce)
SlowRobotAhead 9y ago
I don't know how I'd define organic... But the on list of disqualifying things - "subjected to a specific wavelength of light for a moment" wouldn't be one of them.
- goldenkey 9y ago
  Damn, I was really hoping Superman ate organic lettuce from Krypton but I guess the USDA would reject the super lettuce on grounds of that red sun ;-)
John_KZ 9y ago
I hope you don't mind if I expose you to a specific wavelength of light for a moment and witness chances in your chemical composition. You get a pretty green stamp too.

wwweston 9y ago

Probably depends on what your definition of "organic" is (I mean, isn't nearly all food organic?). I'd imagine many people are coming at it as something like "not produced or processed via industrial processes." And irradiation would probably be considered an industrial process.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]