Crops that are grown organically produce LOWER YIELDS. This means that more acreage is required to produce the same amount of food. If you are concerned about global warming, you should be pushing back against the organic craze and demanding better pesticides and genetically modified crops that produce higher yields.

I'm glad there are a few people who understand this. Also, organic does not mean "better for animals", either. For instance, if a cow on an organic dairy farm gets an illness, the farmer cannot give the cow antibiotics to treat it. So what do they do? They either have to cull the cow or use "holistic" methods. You can imagine how effective those are.

Organic food is a fad--nothing more, nothing less. The vast majority of the American public is woefully ignorant of agriculture. It's pretty pathetic, seeing as though most Americans are only a few generations removed from farm families.

The rancher can still give the cow certain anti-biotics, he just has to wait a long period of time (a year or so) for the drugs to be eliminated from its system.

I think you're right about it being a fad or an even an era along with most of the other green ideals. even global warming is really only the "in" thing right now. Im more concerned with gas prices than CO2 emissions.

Yep, that's right, there is no global warming and pesticides aren't bad for the environment (or the workers that use them). You three have it all figured out.

There is no farmland shortage. Producing more per acre is not necessary and really only leads to the consumption of more synthetic fertilizer (which is petroleum based). Organic farming does give lower yields, but that's not really a bad thing.

"Yep, that's right, there is no global warming and pesticides aren't bad for the environment (or the workers that use them). You three have it all figured out." -mike_in_nm.

I don't think any of them said that, Mikey.

Farmland is disappearing thanks to the spread of urban areas and building projects, so while there may not be a 'shortage' now, there will be in the near future.

If people want to eat, then yes; less yield for more money is a bad thing. It also doesn't work for farmers, who have to think about how they spend their money.

And I think that producing more per acre leads to more than consumption of fertilizer. It also leads to, and follow me on this, more produce.

"Yep, that's right, there is no global warming and pesticides aren't bad for the environment (or the workers that use them). -mike_in_nm

There is no "man-made" global warming. Al Gore and the scare police have fed the US public a load of bull___p.

There is however, climate change occurring. Just as it has since the earth formed. Since there is also climate change occurring on the other planets in the solar system; it follows that American SUV's and our "horrible wasteful" life styles are not the cause of climate change across the solar system. Hmm....what do ALL the planets have in common?...Gee, I can't think of...Oh, yeah - maybe it is the sun activity???

Wow - that was hard to form a theory on.

For Mike - spreading farmland and clearing more and more acres of trees to get more acres for farming means decimating forests and other live plant growth. You know - the plant growth that absords - Atomic Penguin I bet you guessed it (since you seem to have a good grasp of the lack of common sense spouted by some) the TREES that are cleared for farmland absorb CO2 from the atmosphere. So, Mike, clearing trees to put in farmland (smaller plants that are harvested and removed from the CO2 - O2 cycle in a short time) raises the level of CO2 in the atmosphere. Doh!

Reply to "cowgirl up", love your name.

But, talk about common sense are you a scientist, there is nothing to Global warming? It's just made up?

Lets forget that fact that every major scientist doesnt contest the fact that man is causing global warming(or climate change) or whatever you want to call it. Common sense would tell you if you dump as much CO2 in the atmosphere as we have been doing it has to effect something!

And, why would anybody with common sense choose to believe a few politicians and oil execs over the scientific community. Why would anbody with common sense believ the scientist or Al Gore would be more likely to make up stuff than the politicans and Washington and the oil execs.

I just don't get it.

acreage is not the only measure of what is better for the environement

and lower yields will not necessarily result in more acreage being taken for farmland because we already grow too much food as it is; if there government were to stop paying farmers per ear of corn with our tax dollars; we'd use less acreage for farming and not eat so damned much

cheap, heavily subsidized food is one of the major causes of the obesity rate in this country

The lack of cheap, heavily subsidized food is the reason for starvation in much of the world. Which issue would you rather deal with.

Selene, your response is a bit elitist. If these poor fat people would just be made to buy unaffordable organic food, they would lose some weight. Or die trying.

Organic food is a yuppie trend. Rich white people wanting organic food and bio-diesel could be the next big famine.

Well, I'm not sure if this makes me a liberal looney or a conservative redneck...

I generally walk or bike to work instead of driving my pickup, because I am poor, and I can't afford $60 a week in gas. Also, there is some mysterious thing about walking or biking 3 miles each way that seems to control the expansion of my ass, no matter how much Guinness and bacon I consume. It must be magic.

Similarly, when I can afford it, I buy local, organic, free-range food. Why? Because it TASTES BETTER, of course! Free range organic beef is leaner, more flavourful, and more tender than mass-market beef. Go take a fillet of wild-caught salmon, and lay it next to a fillet of the farmed stuff. It doesn't even look like the same fish.

Obviously the Earth is warming up. Our pollution certainly isn't helping. However, one minor volcano eruption produces a quantity of carbon monozide that dwarfs the pollution of every car in the world. Regardless of what is causing global warming, we need to prepare for it!

Similarly, I don't litter and I try to recycle and reuse things not because I feel I am harming the Earth Mother Goddess, but because I live here and feel that it is foolish to sh*t where you eat.

I think we would all agree on a lot more if we would drop the idiotic political rhetoric once in a while.

Freki

Fresh food is good.

Excercise is good.

Saving money is good.

Not littering is good.

Not being wasteful is good.

Drinking beer is excellent. Goes great with Steak, Ribs or Chops.

I would love to walk to work, or ride a bike. But twelve miles with no side walks is a bit two dangerous for my liking.

Beer is excellent, and goes well with most things. I love a stout with my steak and potato, but I enjoy a nice IPA with my caesar salad. I also love Stone Brewery's Double Bastard barley wine with dessert.

I like soy products OK. I love miso, and soy sauce, and I will even enjoy tofu if it is used properly. It is a stretcher for meat, and should be cooked with a little meat and a lot of garlic and ginger so it picks up some flavour. Plain, tofu is meaningless squishy white gunk.

I love milk. Cream, cheese, butter, buttermilk, half-and-half, curds, sour cream, ice cream, I love it all. Lactose intolerance might well make me die of despair.

I think soy milk is foul. I do, however, like rice milk and almond milk OK (add sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon and it is horchata, a delicious Mexican drink). Almond milk makes fantastic hot chocolate, and is good for camping because you don't have to refrigerate it.

None of these milk substitutes will ever go on my cereal, though. They may be tasty to drink, but they are good in their own right, not as a replacement for good ol' cow squeezings.

Freki

PS at least in the small city in Washington where I live, they don't let you ride your bike on the sidewalk. You have to use the roads and trust people not to run you over.

Freki:

Similarly, when I can afford it, I buy local, organic, free-range food. Why? Because it TASTES BETTER, of course! Free range organic beef is leaner, more flavourful, and more tender than mass-market beef. Go take a fillet of wild-caught salmon, and lay it next to a fillet of the farmed stuff. It doesn't even look like the same fish.

"When I can afford it" is the key thing here.  You mention wild vs. farmed salmon.  Well, I would certainly hope the wild salmon would look better - in my area it costs about 21 dollars a pound, compared to something like 6 for frozen farm-raised salmon fillets.  The main difference in appearance is caused by the krill that wild salmon eat, which turns their flesh red.  As for taste I'll have to take your word for it.

No, sidewalks should definetly be reserved for walking. But riding a bicycle on the rural roads where I currently live, would most certainly come under the heading of risk taking.

I once lived in a large industrial city in Germany, and with bike paths and bike lanes, I could ride a bicycle almost anywhere. On rainy days, street cars and buses were available. I lived there several years, without owning a car. There were a couple of occassions where that was a problem, but overall, it worked out well.