It takes stuff like The Daily Show to point out how absurd the typical objections to organic food truly are. The saddest part is that the lies being fed to us by so-called experts are based on studies funded by chemical companies. Big oil, big fertilizer, big pesticide have to convince us that dumping tons of their synthetic chemicals into the environment is the only way to grow good crops in order for their companies to survive.  In fact they even sell genetically engineers seeds that require stronger and more potent doses of their chemicals to grow. Of course, they are going to say whatever they can to ensure they keep selling product – even if what they are doing harms people and the planet.

But people believe what they are sold in advertisements. And these businesses know how to use the language of organic to their own ends – saying that farming without synthetic chemicals is uncaring, unsustainable, and unhealthy. It reminded me of food activist Michael Pollan's recent lament on Democracy Now!. After his recent books have pointed out the health and environmental dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup, he has noticed a number of products advertising that they are made with "real cane sugar" as if it's a health claim. They took his warning about how we are slipping synthetic sweetener into everything as a way to sell sugar as the healthy option. It's not that people are missing the point, it's that the point has been twisted to serve those it originally tried to fight. (Pollan's advice by the way, is to simply don't buy any food you have ever seen advertised.) But Pollan also comments, "the language of sustainability and the critique of industrial food is being picked up by some of the major players within industrial food, either as an effort to co-opt the rhetoric or simply confuse the consumer and the citizen."

It is this deliberate confusing of the public that gets to me. I have no issue with advertising in general – if you've got a product to sell, sell it. I even don't get too bothered by the "buy our wrinkle cream and you too will look as young and sexy as our 19 year old airbrushed model" sort of advertising either. We all know that stuff is a lie, but we buy the stuff anyway because we wish it were true. But having Monsanto claim that over-farming, trends towards mono-crop varieties, and continued use of synthetic chemicals in farming are "sustainable" is a damned lie. Sure people have the right to define words however they like, but this is one of those times where I really don't want the bad guys to win just because they have more money and power.

So once again, thank you The Daily Show, for being the voice to speak truth to power.

The weight of biblical tradition makes me feel like the first fruits of the season should be offered up in some holy ritual. Instead Emma and I shared a moment savoring the first ripe (albeit imperfect) strawberry together. Then we had some of the arugula with dinner. Celebrating the earth in these ways is yes, simple, but it is a sort of ritual unto itself.

But as the season progresses I am spending more and more time pulling the weeds that choke out the life of the food and attempting to do something about the bugs that are eating my food. I don't want to dump toxins onto the land, but I really don't want to be sharing my swiss chard with the critters either. So I'm experimenting with organic pesticides. Yesterday I made up a batch that was pretty much a mixture of pureed garlic and habanero peppers. I could barely stand being in the kitchen with the stuff my eyes stung so bad, so I hope the bugs have the same aversion to it. We shall see.

All that to say, organic gardening is work. Growing my own food and doing so in sustainable ways that doesn't harm the environment or my kids takes works. It reminded me of last weekend during EVDC09 when Eliacin made a comment about the use of the term "organic." He mentioned how all too often we speak of organic leadership or organization as if it is this nebulous unstructured thing. People who despise brands or hierarchy will suggest organic systems instead. But, as he pointed out, organic gardening is hard – it takes a lot of deliberate effort. No organic gardener is going to go in without a plan, without knowing when to plant. They aren't going to let pests or weeds take over the garden if they care about actually producing food. It's just that as they go about their work they do so in loving, careful, and considerate fashion without imposing unnatural elements onto the garden. Understanding that work (by doing it myself!) really helps me understand more the spiritual metaphor of what an organic community should be like.