No matter where we go as consumers, we are faced with an endless amount of variety when it comes to product choices. Within the last several years the organic food market has become a popular trend among Americans. In today’s supermarkets, organic foods are everywhere, as they are no longer limited to only upscale retailers. Large corporations are jumping on the bandwagon and bringing the organic industry to the mainstream market, making the products readily available to the average consumer. The movie Food Inc. portrays this when the film shows Wal-Mart transitioning into this industry as it is flourishing with the recent health campaigns. In 2013 the organic food industry grew to $35.1 billion dollars, an 11.5% increase compared to the previous year ("Market Analysis"). Consumers seem to believe that organic foods have more health benefits, such as nutritional value, environmental benefits, and also take account for animal welfare. So what is the truth about organic food and why is it becoming so popular? It seems as though while organic food maybe the better choice, most consumers do not have a clear understanding on what organic food actually is and what it means.
What is organic food? When I asked this question to a few of my peers I found most answers to be lacking confidence and laced with confusion. Almost all of their responses were the similar phrase “I do know, it is healthier?” This led me to believe that not everyone is educated on this area of our food
Long time ago, the idea of organic food was something ridiculous, nobody cared. But after proved the nutritional benefits and better taste of organic food, many farmers become interest in grown organic food. The article Beyond Organic by Eliot Coleman said that “Now that the food-buying public has become enthusiastic about organically grown foods, the food industry wants to take over.”
Traits of organic food can also be misconstrued in the sense of the ingredients and how it is different from the way processed food is produced. “In reality, certified organics have lower levels of chemical residue, Roethal argues, which is positive for consumers, farm workers and the land itself, but organic growing practices have no impact on how many nutrients, calories or grams of fat are in anyone's favorite foods”(SFGate). As mentioned previously in the quote, often times organic food can benefits one’s health because of the little amount in which chemicals and calories are in the substance. The concern about organic food is that it is substantially more expensive than non-organic food. However,“Organic food sales are increasing by double digits annually, and more than 80 percent of parents reported buying organic food for their families last year”, according to Batch. With the high-price of organic food, this could also be a reason on why people tend to lean more towards the less healthier items, all because of the low cost. Even though there are different and confusing standards on what organic really is, the ideal description would typically be foods that do not have the same producing process as non-organic food.
For the last ten years, give or take, a “new” kind of food has hit the supermarket shelf, organic food. So in case, you don’t know what Organic food is, I’ll explain; organic food, is food produced without any pesticides, or additives, we can easily compare organic foods to all types of farming, known to man in the past millennia. When the only methods of farming, were to create nutrient-rich soil, through natural composts, to plant, and eventually harvest natural foods, then possibly feed animals said natural foods. Organic foods are important to humans since while conventional farming deposits chemicals into the earth, to grow stronger crops, organic food is all natural. This is important since, in the process of growing crops in a conventional way, our food is open to chemicals which are harmful to us, which could potentially do damage to our person. Personally, I have found there is more evidence to support the claim that: organic food is healthier, for human consumption than non-organic food for multiple reasons. One of these reasons being, organic food is safer for people to eat, as there are no harmful chemicals in them, resulting in people not receiving the levels of toxins from their food, or as large quantities of harmful chemicals as conventional food usually contains. Another reason organic food is better is the fact that organic food typically has more nutrients than conventional food.
Organic farming began just as the effects of the Great Depression waned in the United States, and has seen a dramatic increase in popularity most recently (AG). The sales of organic food increased by about twenty percent a year throughout the nineteen nineties (Marcus). That is over ten times the rate of increase that conventional food experienced during the same period of time (Harris). As recently as twenty eleven, about seventy-eight percent of American families admitted to routinely purchasing organic food (Organic). Organic food sales jumped from three point five million in nineteen ninety-seven, to thirty-one million in twenty eleven (Organic). However, while organic food may seem better than conventional food, numerous studies have shown that it is not distinguishably more healthful, nutritious, palatable, or safe.
Video “ Infact: Organic Food Myths” by Brian Dunning (DATE). Dunning two main points are: what is organic and is it healthier. According to Dunning what makes food organic is how it is farmed. Organic farming rejects modern agriculture development. To my surprise I found out that organic products are grown with fertilizer and pesticides, just as nonorganic products. The word organic is use as a marking tool to get individual to buy their products. Dunning also bring up that yes you may find a few study that says organic is healthier, but there are more study that show their no different. Each individual has the choice to believe what we want. Education is key knowing more about organic food is beneficial so am not fouled into spending
Organic versus non-organic foods are always being debated to whether they are worth the extra cost. This seems to be an easy question, at first, but begs a more in-depth analysis to come to a conclusion. Organic definitions can vary by government, company and even individuals. Many people have their own ideas of what organic means. My personal definition, before this research assignment, was that organic products were grown with no pesticides, chemical additives, or preservatives and grown in a humane way. Meaning that if it said 100% organic, that is what was meant. This however, is not the case when it comes to the government’s definition of organic, according to T. A. Niewold who wrote, “Organic More Healthy; Green Shoots in a
The history of organic foods is controversial. When consumers hear the term "organic", many expect foods that are treated with fewer or no "bad chemicals", foods that are more nutritious, or "natural", and those that are less processed or may entail closer care and attention to crops and livestock. However, this is a long list of expectations that are difficult to meet, so the question is actually whether or not the certification process and benefits are worth the hassle. When it comes to health, there is no difference between organic and conventional produce. Both offer the same nutrient benefits. While choosing to eat fresh produce is better for your health than processed food, choosing organic does not lead to any additional benefits. This
Over the last few years, awareness of organic food has risen. Due to this, the demand for organic food is a factor which is influencing the farmers to switch to use this technique, and it is being sold in specialty stores and conventional supermarkets. Organic products contain numerous marketing claims that it is healthier, it offers more value, and the farming is more environmentally friendly than traditional foods, so, how does one determine if organic is the way to go? Some argue that there is evidence that supports and demonstrates why organic foods and farming are better overall, while others insist that conventional foods and agriculture can offer the same benefits as going organic. There is no right or wrong answer. Within this
In addition, lots of people say that organic food isnt really better than conventionally food. Some prople might say the organic food
Technology has influenced the availability and selection of foods today compared to foods in the past. Organic Food have become popular in the United States.Many people have switch to organic food, because it's a lot healthier to eat. With most things there is always a catch, this one is that it cost twice as much to buy and get less.But nevertheless demand for organic food is growing so fast that consumer demand is outstripping some domestic supplies.The United States now spends more than $1 billion a year to import organic food, according to the USDA, and the ratio of imported to exported products is now about 8 to 1. About 10,000 American farmers have made the transition to organic food production on about 2.3 million acres of land. American
Organic food is an alternative to conventional food. It is marketed as pure, wholesome, natural, and still small scale. People shopping for organic food are doing so to avoid the chemicals and not necessarily because the organic products have more nutrition. When I go shopping at the local grocery store I will purchase fresh produce such as carrots, potatoes, fruits, and meats to avoid all the chemicals that could very possibly be part of the nonorganic similar items. It is possible that the nonorganic carrots could very well be grown in soil that has been heavily fertilized year after year and/or sprayed with chemical pesticides. Ever wonder why apples are so shiny? A coating of shellac is applied to apples to give apples a shiny coating, prolong shelf life, and prevent bruising. You might reconsider the next time you reach for the shiniest red apple and remember to think about the pesticides that were used on the apple trees. There are no pesticides sprayed on organic food. While this does make the food taste fresher, it also means that it will go bad more quickly. Unfortunately, this increases
The department of the United States government that is responsible for programming anything related to food, agriculture and nutrition (USDA) defines organic as “food produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations.
“There is a growing body of literature on consumers’ purchasing and consumption of organic foods. We examine the literature in three areas: profile of organic food consumers; major factors affecting purchase and consumption of organic foods; and barriers to organic purchase and consumption.” V. Aslihan Nasir and Fahri Karakaya (2014) researched the underlying motives of why people purchase organic food. They found that most “consumers believe that the nutritional
Why do most people prefer organic food? For starters, some people may already know that ‘organic’ is healthier, more natural and environment-friendly compared to processed food. Besides, non-organic, chemical, and conventional food is one of the major causes of poor health among adults, children, which includes cancer, obesity, and diabetes. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, “organic is a labeling term that indicates that the food or other agricultural product has been produced through approved methods”. These guidelines must meet the requirements and must be accepted by a USDA-licensed representative before goods can be branded USDA organic. But when did organic farming start? Organic farming began during the WWII, resulting from technological advances made earlier in the century and food shortages caused by the war (“The Origin of Organic Food,” 2001). In the early century, artificial fertilizers were inexpensively manufactured and equipment rapidly replaced hands-on labor. However, farmers believed that industrialized farming had prospective harm to the environmental health, so they rejected the notion of advanced agriculture and came up with procedures that enhanced the long-term effectiveness of their farm system based on the theory that human, animal, and environmental health were not worth sacrificing for greater production (“The Origin of Organic Food,” 2001). This type of farming eventually became known as "organic." Over the course of 30
In 1980, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) took an interest in organic farming, publishing a report titled Report and Recommendations on Organic Farming. As organic foods have been growing rapidly in the last 20 years there has been a lot of talking about whether or not organic foods are healthy. As people today have been eating a lot more of organic foods they are having arguments stating that organic food is not what they say on the labels. Although people think that organic food is not what the farmers say it is, it still helps people with their health and provides a healthier lifestyle. In order to maintain the apparent understanding of organic food buying behaviors of consumers, it can be helpful to examine the effect of