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http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes-and-cooking/kosher-vs-table-vs-sea-salts/index.html

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What are you talking about? Pastured cows don't pollute more than CAFO cows. They eat grass, then they poop on the grass, the grass absorbs the poop and more grass grows. The nitrogen in their feces stays on the ground and over time enriches the soil, rather than piling up ankle-deep in s***-mud and flushing into the nearest river or lake. Obviously you have to manage and rotate your pasture so they don't destroy it from overgrazing (which DOES create runoff and erosion), but that's a management issue, not an inherent flaw in the idea. Pastured cows also produce far less methane than CAFO cows, because high methane production is a waste byproduct of forcing cows to eat food they have not evolved to survive on (corn, soy, and other grains) instead of grass. The grass they eat is typically not grown with nitrogen fertilizers, so we've eliminated another source of nitrogen runoff, as well as carbon dioxide from the fuel that would have been required to produce and ship the fertilizer.

The ground NEEDS nitrogen to grow plants well (as should be obvious from the ridiculous amounts of it we pour into it by artificial means every year). The waterways don't. CAFOs put lots of nitrogen into waterways. Pasturing doesn't, and puts it where the grass grows, where it belongs.

Also, your claim that growing 100% organic food is impossible is true, within the paradigm of farming that you are obviously envisioning. But it's not true if you change your basic ideas about how to farm. Look up aquaponics if you haven't heard of it, for instance, for a look at how much fantastically nutritious food (fish and green plants) can be grown in a tiny space with minimal inputs. Also do some research into what is possible with permaculture techniques that mimic the diversity and structure of natural ecosystems rather than sterile, rigid monocultures that are inherently susceptible to pests and disease and destructive to the soil. You'll find that it is both entirely possible and economical to grow enough food for everyone, for that food to be of a higher quality than it is now, for us to lose less of our crop to pests and disease without using pesticides, for our food to be free of persistent toxic substances, and for us to rebuild the quality and diversity of our soil and environment as we do it. Properly pastured livestock is just one piece in the puzzle for a sustainable agriculture that can feed the whole world.

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I think the real problem is the ever-expanding population

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zb757 hit the nail on the head.

@Lame

Here's the deal--the single problem with 'organic' is that ultimately speaking, what do you consider 'organic'? No pesticide or chemical use, and no GM crops?

The one problem with organic farming is that we used to do it, for thousands of years. The only history you read is the history of those that survived. So it looks like organic farming served the human race for so long because the record you see is from the people who survived.

Unfortunately, the real world is a lot more problematic than you think it is in your organic bubble. And you think you're so safe and perfect from it. Do you know why you think the way you do? Because you don't have to deal with the harsh realities that humanity deals with in the rest of the world. The loss of crops that could not only devastate your economic situation, but the devastation of your very livelihood, your community, your friends, your family.

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