Today’s post is a quickie, but I wanted to share three links with you that I thought were quite good reads. They are all from the same blog that I was recently linked to, written by Christi Wilcox, a PhD student at University of Hawaii. Before you ask, yes, she studies biology. Her bio (on the site) says she studies Cell and Molecular Biology, so she’s not completely out of left field in commenting on these topics. Particularly the last link.

Mythbusting 101: Organic Farming > Conventional Agriculture

I really appreciated this post, in part because it said some things I’ve also said (but I said it without backup), but also because I learned a few things.

For example, I always knew organic farms also use pesticides. I just kind of assumed it was the same pesticides in smaller quantities. Not so, and in fascinating ways. It’s going to make me reconsider my stance on things like organic avocados from Mexico. I mean that in the most literal way – “re-consider”. I may not change my mind that it’s better for me to be buying the organic, but I have to give it some more thought.

In the immortal words of Tom Petty: “I won’t back down”

This is a more in-depth version of the above. The two very much go together, and are, together, what’s making me take a hard look at my grocery store choices.

The Very Real Scaremongering of Ari Levaux

This one probably works best if you read The Atlantic piece that is Wilcox’s first link before you read her response. However, I did it backwards and learned a lot. It’s an interesting read about science reporting and genetically modified organisms.