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View Full Version : Organic veg/fruit farming and pesticides that do harm?



calley.arc
Apr 9th, 2013, 02:52 AM
Hi all, I am new to the forum and this is my first thread. Please let me know if I didn't thoroughly enough comb the forum for the information first. I did look but was unsuccessful.

So my question to all of you is based off of something my fiancee (non veg) said to me to question my new lifestyle. He said that organic vegetable and fruit farms still use pesticides which can hurt the animals in the area. Such as to deteriorate birds egg shells in their offspring. He even said that the pesticides they use may be plant based but are in such a high dose that this can happen? His point was basically that even eating a vegan/vegetarian diet is not "cruelty-free" and that we are still causing some cruelty to animals.

Any input would be helpful, especially links!
Thank you for your time!

harpy
Apr 9th, 2013, 10:55 AM
Hello.

First of all, being vegan doesn't necessarily imply a preference for organic produce - there are some threads on the forum where people argue that conventionally produced stuff is preferable from a vegan perspective. I tend to choose organic myself on the basis that organic farmers are supposed to try to be more eco-friendly (which is not necessarily the same as being more vegan-friendly), but I think it's true they can use pesticides.

Apart from that, you could ask your fiancé if he has any suggestions for a completely cruelty-free lifestyle. Vegans do their best to avoid harming and exploiting animals as far as possible but even they have to eat something. Less harm is preferable to more harm, no?

Robinwomb
Apr 9th, 2013, 11:11 AM
I grew my own garden and herbs last summer and did not use fertilizers or pesicides or "organic" matter such as shells and fish guts. I have a compost bin and fill it with vegan food scrapes, grasses and dead leaves and other plant matter. I mixed it in with the soil in the Spring and topped the soil in the summer with it. It worked well and I had healthy plants last year without adding any chemicals or dead animals (or live ones such as worms other than the ones that were already naturally in the ground). However, I can't vouch for where the seeds I bought for my garden came from, even though they were marked "organic". Some would argue that the space I used for my garden took away from some small animal and it may be true, but I have to eat too, and natural wild plants just don't exist in the quanties they did millions of years ago to sustain us.

Like harpy said, it isn't about being perfect and pure and not harming a thing. By living we have to harm something (such as breathing in a mosquito). It is about doing our best to avoid harming and exploiting others as harpy said. We can also go beyond avoiding products and protest publicly (by writing letters making phone calls etc) the use of pesticides and fertilizers that harm other species. We can make our voices heard that we do not want to support these kinds of farming practices, and bring awareness to these issues.

harpy
Apr 9th, 2013, 11:23 AM
You did really well with your garden, Robin - do you think you will do it again this year?

Growing your own food is a good solution for people that have the space, time etc - this website may be useful http://veganorganic.net/

Tabbycat
Apr 9th, 2013, 01:32 PM
Hi all, I am new to the forum and this is my first thread. Please let me know if I didn't thoroughly enough comb the forum for the information first. I did look but was unsuccessful.

So my question to all of you is based off of something my fiancee (non veg) said to me to question my new lifestyle. He said that organic vegetable and fruit farms still use pesticides which can hurt the animals in the area. Such as to deteriorate birds egg shells in their offspring. He even said that the pesticides they use may be plant based but are in such a high dose that this can happen? His point was basically that even eating a vegan/vegetarian diet is not "cruelty-free" and that we are still causing some cruelty to animals.

Any input would be helpful, especially links!
Thank you for your time!

The only pesticide I know of that deteriorated bird egg shells was DDT and that was banned long ago for use in the US. Sadly, it may still be used in other parts of the world. I don't think it's banned in Mexico, for example, but that may have changed.

If you want to know more about organic food laws in the US, you can go here: http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=ORGANIC_CERTIFICATIO

Robinwomb
Apr 10th, 2013, 12:14 AM
You did really well with your garden, Robin - do you think you will do it again this year?

Growing your own food is a good solution for people that have the space, time etc - this website may be useful http://veganorganic.net/

I can't wait to get my garden going again this year harpy! I have been so busy with school and work I haven't even thought about what I will plant. I have plenty of time though. We are still getting snow and very cold temps here. Sighs...Planting season starts in late May up here. If I had the time I would plant a starter kit in the basement until warm enough to move it outside, but well you know...I am going to take a look at that link now. My curiosity is peaked.