In article <002b01c38932$42453db0$f8ad72d8@SOD>, Todd
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>If I understand Bob's argument, then his logic is basically this: because we
>can't really guarantee the purity of a given product, then we should make no
>real effort to do so, and offer no distinction to those who actually try.

No distinction should be offered under the circumstances you describe.
If they cannot guarantee additional purity then they should not be
allowed to imply it either. Anything else is nothing more than a
deliberate negative slur against other beekeepers products.

However, this purity argument is missing the point about organic. It is
about lifestyle choices rather than purity. The production system must
be based on only natural inputs. Note the use of 'natural' rather than
the term 'soft' used by those of a green persuasion, as the 'soft/hard'
terminology is in many ways bogus, substituted for 'natural/synthetic'.

The consumer buys into this however because, in many cases, they believe
they are getting a purer product, and it is not necessarily true. They
also are sold on the organic system as a valid choice for the future
wellbeing of the world. As such they are prepared to pay extra for what
they want. What they are supporting is what a core group at the outset
of the organic movement saw as a sustainable system of production for
the future. They are prepared to pay your price for doing things the way
they want them done, and NOT for someone to come along who does things
at variance with their ideas and tell them that their product is just as
organic because it is as pure. Not the issue.

When you read the regulations there is a whole heap more in there though
than just a practical clean production system. It is actually quite
political.

>If a savvy beekeeper wishes to avail themselves of such a market, so
>be it.

Not quite sure how savvy they are. Full organic beekeeping seems in some
ways to border on animal cruelty itself. I have a unit in trial
conversion, and am considering pulling them out of it as I am distressed
at their condition as against those being looked after conventionally.
They are undernourished and understrength compared to the well fed and
appropriately medicated colonies nearby, and the winter prognosis is
poor. (Mainly due to intense mite pressure in peak of first wave, and a
drought in the area they are situated meaning very little late forage
and little late brood.) Such suffering is alien to my way of thinking,
yet their death is ideallogically pure. Figure that out in line with the
animal rights ideals enshrined in the regulations.

Murray
--
Murray McGregor

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