March 17, 2008

Buy organic and kill a fat poor person



My foot is caught on the tripwire of an ethical logic bomb.
Here’s how it goes.

Obese poor people buy junk food because it’s cheap and convenient.
Corduroy-wearing Guardian readers who live in Crouch End want everyone to eat organic because it’s healthier and is good for the planet.
Organic vegetables, on average, require more farm land than veg grown using evil traditional farming methods.
Organic vegetables are therefore more expensive.
Demand for organic food from corduroy-wearing Guardian readers who live in Crouch End outstrips supply.
70% of our organic food needs to be imported by sea and air to satisfy demand.
Organic yields vary between 50%-85% compared to produce grown using evil traditional farming methods.
More land will need to be turned over to agriculture for organic veg to match the yield of evil traditional farming methods.
If nirvana arrives for the corduroy-wearing Guardian readers who live in Crouch End, and we all move to organic farming, more effort will be required to grow the same amount of food grown using evil traditional farming methods.
Organic food will therefore be more expensive.
Obese poor people will continue to buy junk food because it’s cheap and convenient.

Bang: Ban organic farming. Use the land to grow cheaper food.

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