Monday, May 28, 2012

Organic consumers “insufferable”



Psychologist Kendall Erskine has found that people can become self-righteous snobs about their diets.

“After viewing a few organic foods, comfort foods, or control foods, participants (on his study) who were exposed to organic foods volunteered significantly less time to help a needy stranger, and they judged moral transgressions significantly harsher than those who viewed nonorganic foods,” he writes in a research paper published by the Journal of Psychological and Personality Science.

Ferocious Eugene Whelan
Former Agriculture Minister Eugene Whelan used to say “eating beef makes you ferocious” when he was battling ranchers opposed to his proposal to put beef production under supply management.

He had scientists at the Research Branch searching the research literature to back his claim after the late John T. Schmidt of the Calgary Herald published Whelan’s comments during a speech there.

Cartoonists ridiculed Whelan who never did back down, even after the literature search failed to turn up anything to back Whelan’s comment.

Kendall did the research and the professor at Loyala University says “these results suggest that exposure to organic foods may lead people to affirm their moral identities, which attenuates their desire to be altruistic.”