Ok, I just saw it. First of all, I had seen a show they did including organic before, so I knew what to expect. They think organic is nonsense. They are mistaken on that, and their facts on various things are off.
Firstly, they talk about chlorinated water vs. Non? A lot of the water for irrigation comes from aquifers, or wells, which don't have any chlorine.
They talk of heirloom seed vs. non as far as feeding the world. Well, heirloom seeds are the only kind that you can replant season after season forever, totally free, by collecting seeds from last years harvest. Seeds to make those pesticide resistant crops are terminator seeds which produce sterile seeds which can't germinate, and should a few of them germinate by chance, the seed company will take legal action against you saying you are stealing from them, because the contract is you must buy seeds from them every season in order for you to be able to grow their crops. Buying seeds every year is expensive and is not something that poor farmers, like those in third world countries can afford.
They say those new invented seeds make bigger crops to feed more people, but those bigger crops grown conventionally just have more bulk and have more water, but do not have the mineral or nutrient content. Here is why: plants need nutrients from the soil, particularly minerals, in order for them to have high mineral content for nutrition.
You can start with rich, black soil full of minerals, but the more plants you grow on that soil, the more minerals the plants you grew take OUT of the soil. Because of this, the more you grow, the more depleted of minerals the soil becomes. To conclude differently is to suggest that plants grow by magic, which they don't. They need nutrients in the soil in order for there to be nutrients in the plants.
So, with conventional farming with pesticides, those fertilizers don't contain ALL of the minerals that were taken out of the soil by the previous crops. The fertilizers only contain a few major minerals which are needed to produce crops that are big and look nice, but not enough for those plants to be nutritionally complete.
The only way to keep the minerals in the soil you need to remain the same is by putting back exactly what you took out. That means animal waste, because obviously, they ate the plants that grew on that soil. It's the original recycling.
Ideally, you would use human waste, but that waste couldn't have drug residues or other chemical residues in it, and it would need to be composted/processed properly.
What comes out of the ground, goes back in. Kind of like the circle of life in The Lion King. The problem is so many people take drugs that it could not be done cost effectively, if at all. That is why animal waste is used by organic farmers. (Some people do VEGANIC gardening, which involves only using plant compost, but obviously, this will still result in deteriorating topsoil, although much slower than no fertilizing)
Another point relevant to what they said as far as the methane produced by livestock for manure is this: The livestock that produces said manure is raised for producing beef and dairy, NOT for producing manure.
Manure production is a by product.
Since they admit that greenhouse gases and environmental harm is the result of producing all of that manure, logically they would have to admit that a vegan diet should be implemented, since that would reduce said environmental harm substantially.
However, since I am sure that Penn and Teller do not advocate veganism, I would bet that they would leave the part about methane production by livestock OUT of any program on veganism, since it wouldn't support their position.
Another thing, an outright lie they made was this. Everything in their house is certified organic? Lie. The stove, the carpet?
All of their cleaning products are certified organic? Lie. There is no such thing as a certified organic cleaning product that I have ever heard of. I've looked, because I want some.
All of their bath items are certified organic? Another lie. There are none.
At least not ALL are, although I cannot think of a single one.
There are all natural or plant based cleaners and bath products, but they aren't certified organic. It is statements like that which are completely false that should cause you to question what else they are saying might be a lie, motivated by a biased belief system.
They said her make up was certified organic, too. I highly doubt this. Cruelty free? Absolutely. Vegan? Sure. All plant based? Maybe. But ALL certified organic?
Then there are the taste tests, from people off of the street, or outside a store I guess. Just because you can't taste the difference doesn't mean that there is no difference in taste, and it proves there is NO difference even less. Why don't they have these people taste wines, while they are at it? accurately and reliably discerning tastes is a very special skill. Not everyone can do it. It was funny, though.
Another thing is that bananas are very low in pesticides because very few are used compared to other plants, because they aren't needed, because bananas have a thick skin. Oranges are low in pesticides for the same reason. Organic would make the least difference with those two fruits. I've tasted both, and it really is hard to tell. I will say that the very best bananas I ever had were organic. They were a golden yellow throughout the whole skin, with not the slightest hint of green on them. They weren't the usual pale yellow you see on most bananas. These were tree ripened. Most bananas are picked very green, because of the time it takes to get to market, and because bananas are so soft that they want to reduce bruising. These bananas tasted like banana candy, with that really strong banana flavor you only get in candy or ice cream. To think I could have went though life without tasting a real banana. Shudder.
One more thing on organic produce and taste. As I explained earlier, organic has more minerals in it. Minerals are the fundamental building blocks of plant and animal life. They are on the periodic table. Iron has a taste. Copper has a taste, nickel has a taste. Iron has a taste, and so on. because all minerals have a taste, the more minerals are in a food, the more flavor it will have. It stands to reason. Whether someone can TASTE the difference is determined by their taste buds.
Better taste a cherimoya before you die. Mark Twain said they are deliciousness itself. I agree.
Any company can put organic on the label and it means nothing. It has to be certified organic according to a certain standard, and you have to read up on that standard to know what that actually means. For example, the common standard of organic I used to see was the California Organic Foods act of 1990. Now I believe its a Texas certification.
In the book, the Breast cancer Prevention program, by Samuel Epstien, M.D., there is a study quoted in the book that found that women who have breast cancer have over 50% higher pesticide residues in their breast tissue than women without breast cancer.
The American Cancer Society is wrong saying that pesticides don't cause cancer. Unfortunately, there are a lot of politics to cancer, and guess who makes the drugs to treat cancer? The same companies that make pesticides. These companies also determine medical policy and instruction by giving and withholding large financial grants to universities and by giving doctors gifts and such. Unfortunately, there is too much money in cancer treatment to rely on unbiased information from the American Cancer Society.
My mother died of it, so I'm not trying to rub salt in anyone's wounds, just stating an unfortunate fact.
Penn and Teller also picked two people who seemed rather non intellectual to be the representatives for organic living, which was done to discredit the validity of organic.
In short, it was a hatchet job on organic, filled with misinformation and false conclusions about the subject.
However, I did appreciate watching it, and I really appreciate you bringing it to my attention, I really do.
I especially liked the end of part 2, which you didn't link to, which is actually pretty much ON topic for this thread.
