{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"Food and Faith","provider_url":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith","author_name":"Andrew Kang Bartlett","author_url":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/author\/andrewkangbartlett\/","title":"Organic Schmorganic?","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"MdC0FXUgTN\"><a href=\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/2011\/08\/01\/organic-schmorganic\/\">Organic Schmorganic?<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/2011\/08\/01\/organic-schmorganic\/embed\/#?secret=MdC0FXUgTN\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;Organic Schmorganic?&#8221; &#8212; Food and Faith\" data-secret=\"MdC0FXUgTN\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/* ]]> *\/\n<\/script>\n","description":"How much of your food is organic? And how organic is your organic food?! Our family has made a big commitment to going organic (and local) for health reasons: us, the farmers and farmworkers, and the water, land and air. We probably eat about 80% organic these days (once you subtract the non-organic ice cream, some snacks and sometimes rice). Maybe more in the summer when we get about half of our produce from our front yard. But if you don't grow the food yourself, how do you know organic is really organic? This article helps answer that question. \"Is your organic food really organic: Imported foods found with unacceptable pesticides levels\"The  other issue is that we've so polluted our environment - air, water and  soil - that even organic food has pesticides and toxins in it. You can't escape it because mercury, pesticides and other toxins float in the air and land on the soil and crops. From a 2002 NY Times article - \"The  first detailed scientific analysis of organic fruits and vegetables,  published today, shows that they contain a third as many pesticide  residues as conventionally grown foods.\"Read the article here. The  take away message is that organic food does indeed have less  pesticides. And pesticide cocktails may be very dangerous to our health  in the long run. Most people in the US who have done tissue tests find  that they have dozens of pesticides, heavy metals and other toxins in  the bodies. Fun, eh?!Organic certification does indeed usually mean it is organic. Conventional, non-organic will generally have more  pesticides on them. So, generally, eating organic is a good thing  because it also means that the food has not been genetically modified.  The health effects of GMOs are still unknown, but new evidence is  surfacing that is very scary, particularly the effects on our  intestines.I would recommend the Environmental Working Group's guides. This is carefully researched. And they have a Dirty Dozen list, which may help you prioritize the foods you definitely want to buy organic.&nbsp; Genetically Modified Bonus News Items: ROUNDUP READY CROPS KILLING HABITAT OF MONARCH BUTTERFLIESGM  Roundup Ready soy and corn monocultures in the Midwestern US are  killing off the habitat of monarch butterflies, says a new study. The  study shows a drop over the last 17 years of the area occupied by  monarchs in central Mexico, where many of them spend the winter. The  study attributes the decrease partly to the loss of milkweed, on which  monarchs lay their eggs, from use of Roundup Ready crops. Other causes,  it says, are the loss of milkweed to land development, illegal logging  in Mexico, and severe weather. \"It [glyphosate] kills everything,\" said  Lincoln P. Brower, an entomologist at Sweet Briar College who is also an author of the paper. \"It's like absolute Armageddon for biodiversity  over a huge area.\"http:\/\/www.gmwatch.org\/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=13316The study: http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/j.1752-4598.2011.00142.x\/abstract GM SALMON STUDY REVEALS DANGER OF ESCAPEIf  GM salmon were to escape from captivity they could succeed in breeding  and passing their genes into the wild, Canadian researchers have found. To measure the ability of GM males to complete with wild males during the reproductive season, the team monitored breeding behaviour in a naturalised laboratory setting. \"While the transgenic males displayed reduced breeding performance relative to their non-transgenic rivals they still demonstrated the ability to successfully participate in natural spawning events and thus have the potential to contribute  modified genes to wild populations,\" said lead author Darek Moreau from  the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada.http:\/\/www.gmwatch.org\/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=13321"}