bioagriculture

I've been hearing a lot of muttering about "big organics" -- that's usually code for

Wal-Mart -- and "Chinese organics" -- usually used as a short-form expression to

mean the opposite of locally grown organics.

What I've not been hearing much about is the corporate ownership of many

familiar American organic brands. So I was fascinated to see Michigan State

University Assistant Professor Phil Howard's chart of organics ownership.

Today’s agricultural practices are wearing out the soil and in the course of the last 70 years the nutritional value of our food has declined significantly.  Why?  Because of the loss of topsoil due to erosion, overuse of caustic anhydrous ammonia and potassium chloride fertilizers, and other farming practices that have destroyed the soil. The end result is “food grown in nutrient deficient soil lacks the nutrients needed to keep people healthy.”¹