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Is it Organic? Paperback – February 16, 2011

by Mischa Popoff (Author)
3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 12 ratings
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Sorry friends. What you think about organic food is mostly wrong. The global organic industrial-complex promises everything and delivers nothing. But don't blame organic farmers! They're victims, along with millions of consumers. Being organic is no longer about farming fields. It's about filling forms. Your taxes underwrite this marketing subterfuge and help drive a stake into the heart of the most efficient food system ever known. Who's behind this? You'll be surprised. Organic farming began in England as a Christian movement. Organic farmers in the United States and Canada overwhelmingly identify as conservatives, and until 1997 their industry actually had a sound scientific basis, subject to free-market rules with no government interference. But you'll never hear about that from the pro-organic media, or about the key role Presidents H.W. and G.W. Bush played in vaulting organics from hippie movement to multi-billion-dollar industry. Is it Organic? is a tell-all history by an industry insider who saw too much to keep quiet. Organics can get back to basics by producing food using age-old methods like natural composting, or it can be ruled by banality, fraud and eco-politics. As far as government and urban activists are concerned, farmers, the environment and consumers are mere afterthoughts. And, like it or not, you're footing the bill.
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  1. Print length
    574 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Xulon Press
  4. Publication date
    February 16, 2011
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 1.28 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    161215462X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1612154626
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Xulon Press (February 16, 2011)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 574 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 161215462X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1612154626
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.83 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.28 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 12 ratings

Customer reviews

3.6 out of 5 stars
12 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Laurel Stuart
5.0 out of 5 stars finally a book that dispels the myth that organic mean better
Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2016
Verified Purchase
Big Organic industry obviously is posting negative reviews. Well written and researched.
Agree that only people that have to gain from posting negatively, are sellers of woo and pseudo science.
2 people found this helpful
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Glenn Czulada
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but long
Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2013
Verified Purchase
I place this in the category of much more than i really needed to read about this subject. It was interesting, but could've been shortened and maybe I would've read all the way through it.
One person found this helpful
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Nikki
1.0 out of 5 stars A joke...
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2011
Verified Purchase
Having changed my lifestyle from conventional to more wellness oriented I have done plenty of research on this topic and have come to the conclusion that this book is very much based on opinions. I knew that when I bought this book that I was probably going to disagree with a lot that was said however I feel like i am reading a long high school essay instead of something more educating. Not worth the money. Any ignorant joeblow can give me their opinion.
12 people found this helpful
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JoAnn Diethrich
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2016
Verified Purchase
Every one should read this book...clarifies a lot of myths about organic...personally I don't eat it.
2 people found this helpful
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Jay Lehr
5.0 out of 5 stars Organic Myths Debunked in Entertaining Style
Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2011
If you like science, enjoy history, love reading, dislike bureaucracy and fraud, and are fascinated with the scientific shell game perpetrated by the organic food movement, you will thoroughly enjoy Is It Organic? by Mischa Popoff.

This book is not a dry, robotic analysis of the organic food movement, but is instead written in a delightful and eccentric but long-winded style describing everything in detail.

Was an Organic Farm Inspector
Popoff grew up on a farm and worked his way through college studying history and philosophy. His mastery of those two subjects is evident throughout the book, and it enables him to describe scientific issues with color and flair.

After working as a Canadian organic farm inspector for five years, Popoff felt compelled to tell the world that organic farm inspection is nothing but a paper audit trail having no relationship whatsoever with what people envision as being "green" or "organic." Instead, the organic farming industry is rampant with cheaters utilizing modern technology to increase yields and income.

Exposing Fraud
In an examination of such organic frauds, Popoff explains how advocacy groups supported by billionaires George Soros and Ted Turner focus a deceptive positive light on low-yield organic farming with an ulterior motive of undermining the high-yield agriculture that enables and sustains human population growth.

Nobody is more effective or entertaining than Popoff in documenting and denouncing the brazen frauds being perpetrated by the green movement in pursuit of commerce. Popoff's assertions are well-documented. The book includes detailed footnotes on a third of the pages.

Agricultural Truths
Popoff is not opposed to organic food at all. He just understands the false religion that has grown up around it and the harmful efforts to denigrate high-yield agriculture that accompany it. He sprinkles the text with wonderful quotes from great philosophers. For example, Popoff quotes H.L. Mencken: "The urge to save humanity is always a false front for the urge to rule it."

Noting farmers have a far better understanding of yield rates for various crops and farming techniques than environmental activists have, Popoff writes, "unlike members of the radical, activist elements in the organic movement, the majority of fulltime, domestic organic farmers don't delude themselves for even a second into believing organics can ever feed the planet."

Popoff also does a marvelous job of deconstructing Rachel Carson's influential book Silent Spring and the damage its false DDT claims did to world agriculture.

Myths Busted
Popoff exposes a myriad of foundations and advocacy groups too numerous to mention. He documents their clear motives for deluding the public, defeating market capitalism, and punishing nations built on a foundation of freedom. He also details how many organic farming claims, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, are mere myths. Regarding biotechnology, he makes compelling arguments supporting the safety and desirability of genetic modification.

While Popoff covers an amazing amount of ground in this very instructive and pleasant text, he always comes back to the main point: The entire system of certifying organic farms is bogus. He documents that certification audits do not test the soil for the chemicals applied and that auditors are not allowed to search farm buildings for the storage of inorganic chemicals that may be used on the crops.

Popoff makes another important point in explaining the absurdity of pushing organic farming on developing nations. He writes, "People in the Third World need organic farming like they need caviar and 15-year-old Scotch. In other words, they can't afford organic agriculture until they first learn how to feed themselves. And why the hell shouldn't they benefit from the same technologies that we have for almost a century now: synthetic fertilizer and the fossil-fuel-driven internal combustion engine?"

If organic farming is ever to compete with conventional agriculture, it will be through science and free-market mechanisms, not through political action and the quest to return to simpler times that never existed.

Jay Lehr, Ph.D. ([...]) is science director of The Heartland Institute.
5 people found this helpful
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TH
5.0 out of 5 stars Fed up with the organic charade...
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2018
I'm about half way through and Popoff is spot on with other writers and investigators into the organic charade. Fascinating description of how the industry has been completely corrupted from what started with good intentions into the typical political money grab that spreads across many organizations and companies touting organic produce and products all for the sake of a little extra margin from ignorant consumers. Many organizations are working together to keep consumers in the ignorant fog. At some point in time, the charade will end and those participating in this will be punished at the checkout counter.
2 people found this helpful
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Robert Riversong
1.0 out of 5 stars Right-Wing Pro-Corporate Attack on Organic Farming
Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2012
Mischa Popoff is a Canadian who purports to be an advocate for organics and is pushing his self-published book entitled Is It Organic? The author misses few opportunities to impugn the integrity of the organic label, or USDA oversight, while simultaneously defending biotechnology and the industrial agriculture system that organics seeks to replace.

Popoff is a conservative ideologue, a global warming denier, an ardent critic of hybrid automobiles, and has suggested that the American mortgage crisis that precipitated the financial meltdown was caused by "overregulation."

It appears that Popoff pins his credibility to his role as an insider and organic supporter. But even that is open to debate as he hasn't actually done any organic inspections in years and has been inappropriately identifying himself as an "International Organic Inspectors Association (IOIA) Advanced Inspector" - a title which, according to IOIA, does not even exist.

Almost no element in the organic farming movement has been spared attacks on its credibility by Popoff, and almost none of his claims hold up under scrutiny.
18 people found this helpful
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