Organic Foods: America is Making Healthier Food Choices Essay

Journalist and novelist Michael Pollan writes about the trials and tribulations surrounding food in North America and raises questions regarding Western diet, which is mostly comprised of refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup and corn in general. He reiterates that chemically generated food is creating disease in North Americans; If we eliminate these factors and adopt the eating habits of less industrialized places in the world will we in our lifetime see rates of heart disease, type two diabetes and obesity decline dramatically? The western diet has evolved drastically in the last sixty years, so much so that people have become codependent on the government, dietitians and food agencies regarding their health and what to consume. The land is suffering from pesticides and singular plant farming, the alternative to this is to buy organic but at a higher price. Media has influenced the consumer to read the label and accept and trust the daily vitamin percentages on the box, as this is what is best for them. Money is the key factor in all of this and the government, scientific research and media know that, therefor the public is in for a shock when they realize that the very labels that are supposed to save them have fooled them.

Another economic factor in organic farming, in general, is that organic food is typically more expensive that its non-organic counterpart. This observation goes along with both large and small organic farms. When people go shopping, they often look for the cheapest item. Since

It is also shown that pesticides are partly responsible for the rising cancer rates and birth defects among children (“Pesticides”).

Although when it comes to economics, there should be regulations on the production of food against the government. The government should not have the right to allow GMO production to occur. This can knock out the entire food production if GMOs were placed into the wrong foods. Although, farms produce the food, the corporations and businesses run the show. They have the power to control millions of farms, the cost of food, and what the consumers eat. They make the price on organic food more expensive then non-organic, which does not make any sense. Consumers are paying more for organic food that has not been sprayed by pesticides. No dietician should tell their patients to eat foods that already have been sprayed by pesticides. Even though organic

In Forrest Pritchard’s book, Growing Tomorrow, Juan Garcia, an organic farmer in California who owns and operates Garcia Organic Farming speaks of the hard work organic farming requires when he states “instead of taking shortcuts with chemicals and machinery, we use our hands – and our backs – to get the job done” (247). After acquiring more knowledge about organic farming practices it is clear across the board that organic farmers love what they do and have pride and confidence that they are being good stewards of what has been placed in their care. In his book, Gaining Ground, Forrest Prichard refers to organic farming as “honest and meaningful” (266). Organic farmers are passionate about bringing only the best foods to the consumer’s tables, foods that are fresh, natural, and

As Shireman (1999) stated, “being a responsible consumer and business operator of limited resources can improve one’s bottom line.” Many farmers have restricted or eliminated their use of artificial fertilizers and pesticides, which eliminates soil and water contamination, reduces erosion, preserves local wildlife, helps conserve biodiversity and helps fight against global warming. According to Chait (2016), organic farming can be profitable and organic food appeals to consumers as both a healthy and ethical choice. Beyond money and ethics, though, organic agricultural practices result in numerous environmental

| Organic food is differing from conventional food in many ways. Organic food use manure and composting to enriched the soils. Also, the uses of pesticides or herbicides are forbidden. In order to preserve the soil, organic farmer’s use crop rotation, hand weeds and mulches. More than that, they do not inject any hormones to their animals, but to let their animals live naturally by letting them roaming around. All this reasons why organic is much more expensive than conventional food. This is because, farmers need to spend a lot of expenditures in buying compost, transportation fees, and also labor force.

Pesticides, they’ve been around for years, why does everyone make such a big deal about them? According to the EPA (Environmental protection Agency) it “ensures that each registered pesticide continues to meet the highest standards of safety to protect human health and the environment. The Agency has several programs to ensure the review of registered pesticides, including reregistration, tolerance reassessment, registration review, and special review.” (EPA). With such strict regulations and standards in place what is to fret? There are many organizations and agencies to protect its citizens. If there were substances which damaged your health in pesticides they would have been banned by now. These pesticide products pass constant scrutiny and are expected to meet the highest of standards. We trust conventionally grown produce for our children in our schools, why not eat it ourselves at home? When you buy conventional you are paying for what you get, there is no need for over dramatization or blurring of the facts. These days for conventional produce, every carton, bag, or individual commodity comes with a label sticker where you can scan and track the product to the farm it was harvested from and know the exact detail of the field. This wouldn’t always apply to organic as they are not required by law to record the amount of organic pesticide they spray on their fields.

Putting a curriculum that talks about processed and organic foods into schools will provide them with a solid education to make smart decisions when it comes to their nutrition. If children are provided with helpful information that will affect their lives, they will be interested and willing to listen. Most children do not even know that there is any danger in the foods that they are eating. Most parents do not realize the risk that they are putting in their children’s health either. It is vital that children and teens eat a healthy and nutritional diet to

Although organic production reflects similar cost structure with conventional production in terms of growing, harvesting, transportation and storage; total costs are higher in organic production due to more labour and management intensive process in order to adapt these strict regulations. This causes organic foods become more expensive than conventional foods. However, even more expensive, global demand for organic foods has been growing substantially over the last decades. There are several different reasons behind this rapid increase in consumer demand for organic foods. Food safety concerns linked to

If you could improve your odds of living longer, would you do it? Simply avoiding certain foods can lead to an increased life span. It boils down to, do you eat any organic food? Choosing to consume organic food is one way to drastically improve your health. At first glance you may be wondering what’s the big deal, it's just food after all, and that is where you are wrong. Organic food is the way food is meant to be prepared and eaten, unfortunately due to business tactics, the food industry has gotten out of hand and most of the food available at your local grocery store contains food with dangerous ingredients. There are many benefits to eating mainly organic food some of which include; health benefits, sustainable agriculture and fair animal treatment.

To begin, organic does not provide the health benefits associated with it; Lomborg states, "…there are few, if any health benefits of organic foods" (Lomborg). The ever-expanding organic industry believes that if pesticides are not used on produce and other types of food, there will be lower levels of pesticides in one’s body, and in turn, the body is not tainted with truly taboo toxins. Unfortunately, this is a flawed way of reasoning. Pesticides are chemicals used to control pests; they are vaccines for plants. The main objective of pesticides is to prevent crops from being destroyed. If a farmer’s crops are destroyed, their yields may range from inadequate to nonexistent. Scarcity of food, due to lack of yields, is something the world cannot afford to have; pointedly with 49 million Americans already struggling to put food on the table (Dosomething.org), not to mention other developing countries whose hunger rates are even higher than those of the U.S. Likewise, scarcity, on a planet whose population is already 7 billion, and is increasing steadily is not permissible, unless humanity wants to sacrifice quality of food in favor on quantity. This is where conventional food comes in. Conventional food does not make tradeoffs. These foods are produced using pesticides. Some view this as a downside, however the pesticides used are safe for consumption and are managed by the United States Department of Agriculture; Lomborg asserts, “…already well-regulated pesticides” (Lomborg). Through the use of pesticides, farmers are lessening their chances of their crops being destroyed, thus decreasing the risk for inadequate yields. This in turn ensures that mankind and his future generations are able to sustain and prosper, just though the use of pesticides.

Improvements to obesity can also be made by cutting the prices of organic food so that more people can afford to buy healthy foods. If there is more demand for organic foods, making them popular, their prices will be much lower. Additionally, grocery stores should be stocked with locally grown food and with less imported food from across the country or world because the shipping affects the product’s price. Farmers markets and local vendors are a nice alternative to grocery stores and a great way to buy foods. Not having to pay stores to sell their products, farmers get the entire price of the product, so they can reduce the selling price. State governments should cooperate with farmers and small businesses so that these markets could stay afloat.

Organic products and non-organic foods have been a subject of interest for me for a great amount of time because I have often questioned whether there really was a difference between the two types of products. I always wondered what the nutritional, economic, laborious, and pollution differences were, if any, in the creation of the two types of products. . Through research, I have discovered a few sources from claiming data, which permits me to focus more than a physical distinction of the two. In this research paper, I will discuss how conventional foods and organic food differ in farming, the effects on the environment and the health and nutrition benefits.

Bettering one’s body is one of the most common New Year’s resolutions. Whether it is eating healthy or exercising, people are always searching for ways to improve themselves. The food industry has recently seen a substantial increase in the demand for organic foods as opposed to the more common option of conventionally grown products. In 1990, the revenue spent on organic foods was only $1 billion, soaring to $21.1 billion in 2008, and reaching $26.6 billion in 2009 (Crinnion 4). This significant increase in demand is due to the environmental effects and the overwhelming benefits to our bodies. When addressing significant issues such as personal health and climate change, organic foods are a solution that can conquer two birds with one stone.