I meet a lot of people who think that organic food is somehow pure. Is grown without pesticides and other undesirable chemicals. It’s simply not true, as I wrote about here: Organic Food Is Grown With Manure From Factory Farms, Synthetic Pesticides.

USDA: Guide For Organic Producers (pdf), Pamela Coleman, November 2012

About chemicals:

Synthetic substances allowed for use in organic crop production: … The list includes algaecides, disinfectants, sanitizers, irrigation system cleaners, herbicides, animal repellents, insecticides, miticides, pheromones, rodenticides, slug baits, plant disease controls, soil amendments, and plant growth regulators.

Cattle yard in northern Iowa in winter. Manure from CAFOs may be used in organic farming. – Wikipedia

About fertilizer:

Manures from conventional systems are allowed in organic production, including manure from livestock grown in confinement and from those that have been fed genetically engineered feeds. Manure sources containing excessive levels of pesticides, heavy metals, or other contaminants may be prohibited from use. Such contamination is likely present in manure obtained from industrial-scale feedlots and other confinement facilities.

Herbicide residues have been found in manures and manure-based composts.

Those herbicide residues can be Monsanto’s Roundup.

People say, “Not my organic food!” Their farmer doesn’t use any of those practices. Really? Do they know the farmer who grew their organic popcorn? The organic wheat in their organic bread and pasta? Their organic oats? Organic spices? Organic coffee and tea? Maybe they do.

Look, I will buy organic if I can get my hands on it and if it fits into my budget because I think it might be a hair better. I don’t really know. But I’m not fooling myself that it is some kind of nectar from the gods. We can’t trash the planet like we do and not expect our food to be contaminated.

This is breathtaking. It’s also terrifying. Three humpback whales circle a boat in the South Pacific. One of their tails is wider than the whole boat! (Captured with their drone. What a great use of the technology.)

I wish the birds near me would get so close. Attenborough is so disarming.

Thanks to Miss Cellania and Bill.

There’s even a cartoon about it:

Thanks to Bill.

Natural Grocers has pulled #HowNotToDie from its shelves. Consider signing this petition: https://t.co/cxkjI72TZV pic.twitter.com/qkZy4XFr3a

— Michael Greger, M.D. (@nutrition_facts) September 1, 2016

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From the petition page:

Natural Grocers has removed every copy of How Not To Die from its shelves, saying that the book’s claims are not based on science and that the author’s opinions “do not support our company’s views on what a healthy diet should include.”

The book, by Michael Greger, MD, contains information on the 15 top causes of death in America and how nutrition and lifestyle factor into preventing them. It also contains 143 pages of references to peer-reviewed scientific evidence.

Natural Grocers has no problem selling books that tell readers to eat for their blood type (Eat Right 4 Your Type); that consuming foods with saturated fat is good for them (Cholesterol Clarity); and that cheese and steak can help reduce obesity, diabetes, and heart disease (The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat & Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet).

So why then, does Natural Grocers refuse to sell Dr. Greger’s book? Is it because it will hurt their sales of meat and cheese?

I have Dr. Greger’s book, How Not To Die, sitting at my elbow here. The reference section itself begins on page 413 and ends on page 545. These are not esoteric references. They include the New England Journal of Medicine, British Medical Journal, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Annals of Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology, Lipids, the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Lancet, Cancer, the American Journal of Epidemiology, the Journal of Food Science, and on. These are some of the most respected scientific peer-reviewed journals in the fields of medicine, food, health, and nutrition. It’s a great book, a New York Times bestseller with 5 stars on Amazon.

Of course the book’s claims are based in science. Natural Grocers has some other agenda to say otherwise.

Here’s what I found out about Natural Grocers … They are a Colorado-based health food chain with 13 stores mainly west of the Mississippi River. They went public in 2012, so they probably had some deep-pocket backers at that time. Who?

And this:

Company founder Margaret Isely contributed to forming the precursor group that became the international trade group Council for Responsible Nutrition.

The Council for Responsible Nutrition is a lobby for the dietary supplement industry.

Fish Oil Pills: A $1.2 Billion Industry Built, So Far, On Empty Promises, Washington Post, July 2015

The “accrual of high-level evidence,” according to a review of studies published last year in an American Medical Association journal, shows “that the supplements lack efficacy across a range of health outcomes.”

//www.washingtonpost.com/video/c/embed/0300e5be-266e-11e5-b621-b55e495e9b78

JoAnn E. Manson, chief of preventive medicine at the Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said:

It’s amazing how popular the fish oil supplements have become without conclusive evidence of their efficacy.

“The Legend of the Legendary Rice Cooker: A Quest for Love.” Written and directed by Bobbie Liang. Winner of 2007 Baulkham Hills High School Short Film Festival.

… posted by the legendary film critic Roger Ebert in his blog “The Pot And How To Use It.”

Thanks to Simka Johnson