Organic Cotton

[Clatteringford]

What are your views on buying clothing made from Organic Cotton? This is cotton grown without the use of fertilizers and pesticides. These fertilizers and pesticides are killing cotton farmers and their families every day! Organically grown cotton will give the farmers a healthier life and more money to buy food. Would you rather buy organic cotton clothing and know that you are helping both farmers and the environment?

[Lon]

Originally Posted by Clatteringford

What are your views on buying clothing made from Organic Cotton? This is cotton grown without the use of fertilizers and pesticides. These fertilizers and pesticides are killing cotton farmers and their families every day! Organically grown cotton will give the farmers a healthier life and more money to buy food. Would you rather buy organic cotton clothing and know that you are helping both farmers and the environment?

It's only a good idea if the fabric is worn on an organically grown body.

[Tombstone]

Originally Posted by Clatteringford

What are your views on buying clothing made from Organic Cotton? This is cotton grown without the use of fertilizers and pesticides. These fertilizers and pesticides are killing cotton farmers and their families every day! Organically grown cotton will give the farmers a healthier life and more money to buy food. Would you rather buy organic cotton clothing and know that you are helping both farmers and the environment?

Organic growing is always a great goal. Cotton, however, is one of the harshest crops in regards to depleting nutrients in the soil. You have to fallow sections regularly - which makes organic cotton expensive.

Leaving out pesticides if you can is great - using natural fertilizers is a.o.k. in my book.

[chonsigirl]

What about those organic pests, the boll weevil?

And how would you know your clothing is organically grown? Does that include the dyes and everything?

[Accountable]

Originally Posted by Clatteringford

[...]These fertilizers and pesticides are killing cotton farmers and their families every day! Organically grown cotton will give the farmers a healthier life and more money to buy food.

Why on earth would farmers choose to endanger themselves and their families??

[gmc]

posted by accountable

Why on earth would farmers choose to endanger themselves and their families??

They don't, but if you are told a product is safe you tend to trust what you are told. It is only later that many once thought safe insecticides etc show up as being problematical, from sheep dip causing nerve damage to farmers using it to hormone injected cattle by the time farmers realise the problem the damage is done.

Like with BSE. Do you really think most farmers realised they were feeding cattle feed with animal protein in it?

[Accountable]

Clatteringford used present tense. That means they still use it after knowing its dangers.

[Lon]

Organic cotton farming except on a very small scale is not a real great idea. Most products made of cotton come from very large corporate farms consisting of thousands of acres. The San Joaquin Valley in Central California produces more cotton than all of the southern states combined. The cotton yields per acre are among the highest in the world. There is little or no danger to growers or workers from the pesticides that are used as almost every aspect of the planting, growing and harvesting is mechanical. If everyone was into Organic Cotton farming, we wouldn't want to pay the price for the end product. While pesticides can be a problem, no question, they do allow for econimies of scale.

[Accountable]

What's the point in posting a subject but never taking part in the conversation? People really enjoy that?

[Accountable]

Sorry for being rude, Lon.

So the farmers aren't really in danger. All is right with the world and I can enjoy my jeans.