I've written before about how the term "organic" can be used in misleading or inaccurate ways. There is real value to organic (meaning sustainable) farming methods, but there is also a lot of unwarranted hype and pseudo-science. The term is also being overused and applied to products in cases that don't really make a lot of sense. Today I got an ad in my inbox that took this to a new level.
The ad was for two video games, one an expansion to a Windows-only first person shooter called "Natural Selection 2". I don't really like first person shooter games, and I use a Mac, so this isn't of much use to me. Still, the name got my attention. There was also a second game available called "Overgrowth", which is advertised as the "best ninja rabbit game possible". I had not realized this was such a competitive category! In this game "rabbits, wolves and other animals" get to fight each other using their own natural weapons, or "medieval weaponry".
The cherry on top, though, is that there is a bundle discount if you get both games together. You guessed it, it is the "Organic Indie Preorder Pack". Now, I don't mean to come down too hard on this company, the name is obviously tongue-in-cheek, and no one could possibly mistake this for a product that has anything to do with the environment or sustainability. Frankly, this type of labelling is much more honest than that used by some companies who are deliberately subverting the term "organic" to sell products that are not environmentally friendly.
Still, this example does show the extent to which the term "organic" has pervaded our culture. It seems like "green" and "organic" have little real meaning anymore. I suppose "sustainable" is next. Once we start hearing about the Canadian tar sands being marketed as "sustainable" destruction, you'll know we're there.
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2 comments:
Hi Mike, thanks for the comments. I agree with much of your criticism of the "organic" movement, and I make similar points in the article I link to at the beginning. (For example, I mention that scientific studies don't show any difference in nutrition between organic and non-organic foods.)
When I talk about "organic" farming methods though, what I mean is sustainable farming methods, and that was the original intent before the term "organic" got misused. I think local farms that used mixed crops instead of monocrops, and more human labour instead of mechanical labour are absolutely great.
From a purely agricultural point of view, sustainability means we can continue to keep growing things in such a way that the soil is not degraded and this can be continued indefinitely into the future. For true sustainability, of course, we'll eventually need to remove the dependence on fossil fuels. Even if you ignore the carbon emissions, there's only a finite supply of these.
Mike, I worry that people will continue to just think in the short term, and we won't move towards sustainability. If we don't, we could well see the future you describe. I'm not ready to give up yet, though!
Btw, I agree that fossil fuels are so precious, we should not be burning them in cars or power plants, but saving them for truly necessary things.
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