Well, since we're now talking about organic food, I guess I'll jump in here as well.

There's a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding about organic food...not here specifically but in general.

As a rule, yes, organic costs more. This is most prevalent in uppity up stores. However, by shopping around and watching for sales, organic can be competitive and some times, even less money. "Not being able to afford organic", in many cases that I'm aware of is simply a matter of either an unwillingness to change shopping habits or an unwillingness to prioritize. I see people affording lots of booze and junk food yet they can't afford organic. I fail to see the logic there.

According to US poverty guidelines, I am poverty...yet, I can afford it...and I eat a 98% organic diet. I value my long-term health and health of my family above all else so I can't afford not to eat anything but the healthiest food.

There's also some unarguable facts about conventional farming. The one that stands out in my mind most is water pollution (the USGS has plenty of stats). Then, you have the pollution caused by the making of the synthetic chems; the ecological ramifications of that and their application; loss of top soil; chem dependency; the embodied energy (farming, transporting, etc); etc; etc.

I grew up on a conventional farm. I know the practices and have seen the ramifications first hand. I contributed to the above mentioned problems and more on the family farm for 19 yrs. I refuse to contribute any longer which, now, would mean buying non-organic. There are methods of growing organically that are superior on many levels and competitive on others. As of 2007, there were 299 organic farms in the southern third of my state (ID) totaling 111,781 organic acres. In my county alone, there are at least 15 organic farms.

The overwhelming majority of homeowners could convert part of their lawns to productive garden space and grow their own...some times a good portion of their needs. This has many attributes: lessening the need for more "farm land"; saved energy; family values; more nutrition; etc. There's no logic in maintaining a large lawn only to drive to the market to buy food that was transported across the country...or on the other side of the planet. In that process, the infrastructure is further burdened, energy is wasted and nutritional value not realized or lost. All for the perceived notion of money savings with no thought of the larger picture or hidden costs.

For those not growing, buying and eating organic, excuses run rampant. I see few legitimate ones though. In many cases, it seemingly boils down to apathy which, could be due to not fully understanding the effects their lifestyles have on their long-term health (both, personal & ecological which, go hand-n-hand) and that of future generations. Unfortunately, society has slipped into such a state of comfort and disconnectedness that the simple solutions will be practically impossible to implement to any large degree. The sad realities of our lifestyle.....