Just when you think you have it all down pat, the rules change again.

From The Economist I learn that buying organic food might be making the world worse instead of better. Seems the claim that when you grow organic food you use less pesticides, build richer soil and keep the water supplies cleaner is not the whole story. Organic farming methods are far less intensive than conventional ones. To produce the same amount of food organically as is conventionally produced would require several times as much land. That would mean massive more deforestation. And as we all know by now, deforestation is thought to one of the major causes of global warming.

Unfortunately, it appears that we cannot improve the world with our grocery carts. We must push for government change through the ballot box - implementation of a a global carbon tax (pricing the cost of emission into the price of goods to encourage more local sourcing); motivating retailers to source more foods locally; reform of the world trade system; and abolishing agricultural subsidies and tariffs.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive