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Deceptive and Ridiculous Application of the Organic Label

fish, organic, farm raised, farmedThe National Organics Standards Board is meeting to decide whether or not to allow farmed fish to carry the federal government’s organic label.

While the industry believes an organic standard for farmed fish would improve operations and improve competition against sub-par foreign producers, opponents believe the label would violate organic standards.

According to those opposed, fish meal and fish oil used in fish farming concentrates harmful PCBs and mercury. Further, they say the most common method of fish farming, open pen net farming, is inconsistent with the principles of organic agriculture.

Currently, fish labeled “organic” in the United States does not carry an official USDA label. However, fish from foreign producers may carry an organic label issued by their own country.

Sources:

Dr. Mercola''s Comments Dr. Mercola's Comments:

This is a major perversion of the organic label, in many ways not too dissimilar from what these agencies did with “organic” milk.

A far better description would restrict the term to animals that are being raised completely naturally. It is a simple bastardization of the term when you apply it to products produced from animals that are raised in food factories.

It is simply impossible to obtain all the benefits that were naturally included in these foods when this artificial manipulation is introduced into the system.

If you read last week’s newsletter, you’re already fully aware that there is major deception going on behind any farm-raised fish that is labeled organic.

Farm-raised fish are raised in so-called “feedlots of the sea.” Here they are put into overcrowded pens where disease and parasites like sea lice flourish. They are fed synthetic diets that wild fish would never eat, and their waste devastates the marine life living on the ocean floor beneath the pens.

Not to mention that they’re widely known to be chock full of cancer-causing toxins like PCBs.

There is clearly nothing “organic” about it.

Even among farmed fish that is labeled organic, chemicals are used (including pesticide-based anti-sea lice treatments, veterinary medicines, and chlorine-based Chloramine-T and formalin, which are used to prevent fungal growth), and the fish are fed synthetic vitamins and minerals, along with processed yeast to give them color.

So, folks, please do not be deceived by claims that farm-raised fish -- whether it’s organic or not -- is healthy.

Avoid farm-raised fish like the plague.

Even most wild fish is now on my list of foods to avoid. This is because the waters in which most wild fish swim is polluted, possibly beyond repair. If you eat fish that grew up in polluted water, you will be ingesting a slew of mercury and other industrial chemicals that persist in the water.

If you would like to eat fish safely, or at least gain the health benefits of doing so, here are the three steps you need to know:
  • Small fish like sardines and anchovies are typically safe to eat (since they are small, they’ve had less time to accumulate toxins).
  • Wild fish should only be eaten if you can verify via lab-testing that it’s safe. Vital Choice Wild Red Salmon is one such fish.
  • By taking a high-quality krill oil daily, you can get plenty of the beneficial compounds in fish (omega-3 fats) without having to worry about toxins. Krill are at the bottom of the food chain and have virtually no time to grow and acquire toxic heavy metals.


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Comment on This Article Community Comments (21)
 
 
Posted On Nov 30, 2007
"The fish-farming industry has argued that a U.S. organic standard for farmed fish is needed to help producers compete against foreign producers.Foreign producers are allowed to use labels awarded by their own countries, although not the USDA label".

Pretty soon if things keep on going the way they are we won't have anything that's truly organic ....It all boils down to the almighty dollar and has absolutely nothing to do with the health and well being of the consumers. They would do anything and i mean anything to monopolise the market(s) irregardless of the consequences. I've often said there's a certain amount of evil associated  with money and this article once again proves right....
What us as consumers can do is to:
1) Get educated.
2) Inform the masses - pass this on to as many people you know.
3) Don't buy anything that's not 100% in compliance with nature - If we don't buy then there's no demand and they would have to pack it in, that's a very powerful strategy us the consumers have, but most don't realise it.....

As a side note one can think of how much money you need to enjoy a good life for you and your families and don't kill yourself trying to attain more, you'll find yourself being a slave and be missing out on your real purpose in life and you'll be forever miserable.... I am not against having money we all need it to live, but i'm totally against money having ME .

 
seg
Savvy User Savvy User, Joined On 11/2006
seg  
Replied

Dr Rik
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 11/2006
Dr Rik  
 
Posted On Dec 18, 2007

Very nicely stated. Economic boycotting works, it's as simple as buying what you really want. Lo and behold, they are selling more and successful. Your dollar has influence.


 
 
 
Posted On Nov 30, 2007
Short of growing my own food and raising my own fish , cows and chickens I'm to the point I don't believe anything I read anymore! Every time I turn around there changing the labels.

 
GreenApple
Novice User Novice User, Joined On 6/2006
GreenApple  
Replied

Cinnabar
Apprentice User Apprentice User Joined On 11/2007
Cinnabar  
 
Posted On Nov 30, 2007
That's how I feel, too.  I was drinking that Celestial Seasonings holiday tea, and I didn't think that it would contain artificial sweeteners.  Anything packaged deserved a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th look.  Thank goodness for Dr. Mercola.  I wouldn't be so aware without his literature.


JulejuleLMT
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 4/2007
JulejuleLMT  
 
Posted On Dec 02, 2007
Cinnabar, did you also notice the soy lecithin on the box of Celestial Seasonings?? I took 3 boxes back to the store the other day (we're a 100% soy-free family). Crazy!


Cinnabar
Apprentice User Apprentice User Joined On 11/2007
Cinnabar  
 
Posted On Dec 03, 2007
I know! What is the purpose for having soy in tea?  Give me a break!




schmaltztwics
Novice User Novice User Joined On 12/2006
schmaltztwics  
 
Posted On Dec 18, 2007

GreenApple,

Alan Watt's analysis seems on the mark, unfortunately.

www.alanwattsentientsentinel.eu/.../Alan_Watt_Blurb_FoodAndMentalLethargy_Dec072006.html

"Not too far in the future, it will be a CRIME TO GROW VEGETABLES WITHOUT A LICENSE, in the first step. Then that will come down to: it's a crime, simply to grow them yourself. The scientists will come on and tell us why we can't do it. Lots of experts will come on in the regular media - across the world, the AM stations with their talking heads, will come on and get the audiences involved, and, “What do you think? Are you for or against?” And they fall into the routine, like trained animals, and get all emotional about it, and forget logic, purpose or reason. Very simple, and we've all been brought up in this system like this."


 
 
 
Posted On Nov 29, 2007
At USDA (United States Department Of Agri-Business) where "pasteurization" of almonds mean the nuking of them with radiation to destroy any beneficial nutrient content, is is any wonder this standard for organic would be devised to confuse consumers, blur the line between real food and fake food and promote what Big food & Beverage want via their K Street lobbyists?

I fully expect the USDA will be ruling that hemlock should be added to school lunch program (processed, not raw) milk soon, because it's "natural".

 
Russ Bianchi
Savvy User Savvy User, Joined On 9/2006
Russ Bianchi  
Replied

qualitygeek
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 10/2007
qualitygeek  
 
Posted On Nov 30, 2007
yeah, arsenic & cyanide are "naturally occurring" as are flourine, chlorine, lead & mercury salts....the FDA approves of flouride being added to water supplies & thimerosal/aluminum in vaccine bases...

organic used to mean the substance had carbon in it...that is still what it means in chemistry....it's not really an appropriate term to describe non-gmo foods grown without means of lab-manufactured products....


EQ
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 3/2007
EQ  
 
Posted On Dec 01, 2007
Yeah, qualitgeek, I'm sure most people on this blog are aware of the semantics of "organic."  I have no problem accepting the label as a way to avoid wordy labeling, but now the whole system is getting abused by big money.  Words are a strange thing.  I find myself living in a country where the people who claim to be conservative don't have a clue what it means to conserve!

 
 
 
Posted On Nov 29, 2007
How can something be wild yet be raised "organic" it is just wrong.

Mary

 
mmc88121
Moderator User Moderator User, Joined On 11/2006
mmc88121  
 
 
 
Posted On Dec 18, 2007

Interesting article and on the surface I would agree that this type of use of  'organic food labeling' devalues our 'belief' of what the standards of 'organic food' should be.

However there are broader issues as well. Wild fish stocks are being depleted all over the world, and the whole sale fishing of anchovie and sardine fish stocks (which are at the lower end of the food chain) will contribute even further to this. Waste products from 'human Industrial processes' and breeding habitat loss of small fish contribute to this even more. There is a moratorium on whale hunting to preserve the animals yet harvesting krill (large wales main food source) for the marine oil mass market, seems a little environmentally unfrendly as well. With a great many of the worlds population dependant on fish as a staple food, in my opinon there needs to be more fish farming, and particularly more fish farming that uses the cleanest and greenest technology available to produce superior quality fish that are as close to organic as possible.

In herbal medicine we call plants that are harvested from the wild, 'wildcrafted herbs'. Maybe a term like this should apply to fish that are caught in the wild.    


 
Dr Phil
Novice User Novice User, Joined On 12/2007
Dr Phil  
Replied

WildPacificFish
Novice User Novice User Joined On 12/2008
WildPacificFish  
 
Posted On Dec 01, 2008

Dr. Phil, you're spot on a couple of points, but missed the big one.  I believe that wild fish stocks can not only survive, but thrive when well-managed.  The state of Alaska is a great case in point.  It is the only state in the union which has fish management policy written into its constitution. I also believe that healthy commerce of wild fish is what will save them from extinction.  You make an excellent point about anchovies, sardines and krill.  These are at the bottom of the food chain, and when you remove this building block, the whole marine ecosystem collapses.  This sudden boom in krill oil concerns me, and I wonder if any studies are being done on its sustainability. Still fin-fish farming is not the answer.  The escapement, cross-breeding and disease transfer of carnivorous farmed fish like salmon play hell on wild stocks.  Additionally, fish like salmon which are built to swim 1000's of miles in the open ocean in their lifetime don't do well swimming in circles in a pen.  Hence, the introduction of antibiotics, dyes and all the rest of the crap. Then there are all the health concerns with farmed fish that Dr. Mercola mentions above. However, just like poultry and cattle, there are docile, herbivorous species of seafood that can be sustainably farmed.  All bivalves like clams, mussels and oysters, and shrimp and tilapia to name a few. BTW, there are 3 definitive terms to describe the harvesting of fish: "Wild", "Wild-caught" (hatched in captivity, and released into the wild to be captured as mature adults), and "Farmed".  Hatcheries are responsible seeing the (albeit slow) return of salmon populations to the Pacific Northwest. I hope Dr. Mercola addresses your points on anchovies, sardines and krill.


 
 
 
 
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