There are many reasons why organic farming techniques are becoming all the rage, but the most important reasons have to do with preserving people’s health, the animal’s health, and the earth’s health. Organic farmers are as skilled in the use of biological and mechanical controls of insects as conventional farmers are in spraying chemicals. The argument starts because there is no denying that ingesting chemicals are harmful to people. Feeding a kid non-organic apple juice might be like putting Windex in a sippy cup. The word organic refers to a natural method of farming that produces food without using any artificial pesticides, chemicals, or hormones while relying on soil organisms, insects, and birds to keep bugs in check. If society is serious about eating healthier, there appears to be an opportunity to change things. Although the government regulates pesticides in food in conventional farming, to a larger extent, organic farming benefits a person’s health because the food one eats has a bearing on one's state of mind and well-being and ingesting chemicals is unhealthy.
A cultural shift to organic is critical for human and environmental benefits for three reasons. First, a person’s physical condition depends on eating high-quality foods. Organic foods do not contain any artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, or pesticides making them good choices to build a fit body. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 60 % of herbicides, 90 % of fungicides, and 30 % of pesticides, all chemicals used in conventionally grown agriculture, cause cancer (“The Top 10 Reasons. . .”). The conclusion is that these chemicals are poisons designed to kill living organisms and can harm humans. Second, because organic far...
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Like many other topics, organic food brings up many controversial opinions. A new study out of Stanford University showed how organic fruits and vegetables are the same as conventionally grown products by countering their nutrients intake. Their study included humans that were tested between two days to two years. In the end of their study they concluded that organic goods are no more nutritious than lowly conventional foods. Also, when it comes to meats and dairy production, they claim that they didn’t find any apparent health advantages. To end up with this conclusion, the specialists made thousands of research that included 17 studies of the population that consume organic and non-organic foods in their diet and 223 studies that contain comparisons between the nutrients levels, pesticide, hormones, and bacterial contamination in different organic and non-organic products ( vegetables, fruits, milk, and meats). They strengthen their theory by saying that no long-term studies showed any health difference between people that consume organic foods versus people that eat non-organic products. But still, they said half-heartedly that they found in organic food more phosphorus than in conventionally grown food and higher levels of pesticides in non-organic products. But they quickly covered this by saying that the “pesticide levels were always within health regulations and below the dangerous levels” (USDA).
To understand this illusion that the government creates, the definition of organic must be addressed. According to Robert Paarlberg, the author of Food Politics, “organic foods are produced without any human-made (i.e., synthetic) fertilizers or pesticides” instead “organic farmers use composted animal manure and plant cover crops they can later turn into soil” (Paarlberg, 139). This definition suggests that organic farming is not necessarily free of toxic chemicals, but that the chemicals used on organic farms are natural chemicals, or in other words, chemicals that appear in nature. Another definition of organic food is that it is “produced by farmers who em...
Organic has long since been a highly accredited term for food. To be organic is to be pure, natural, and above the dirty industrial system that food production has become. This definition however has become tainted. The truth is that organic foods are anything but healthier. In Michael Pollan’s research book The Omnivore’s Dilemma the validity of organic foods are discredited. Pollan argues about organic food, as it is misleading consumers.
"Organic Food." Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 8 June 2007. Web. 18 May 2011. .
Many believe that organic farming must be local and transporting around the world defeats the purpose of organic farming. Michael Pollan, a well known food critic and the Author of The Omnivore 's Dilemma, asks “So is the industrial Organic food chain finally a contradiction in terms?”The size of the industrial organic industry has increased greatly in the past decades: “It 's no longer the image of a small organic farmer with four acres and a hog. This is mainstream now—this is an industry worth over $31.5 billion.” Src 3. The large organic companies have grown to be worth billions of dollars and because of this it would be hard to defeat them and change the standards. The industrial food system as a whole has decreased the amount of farming in America vastly. Pollan states that in the United States there is “One Farmer, 129 Eaters.” This means that for every farmer there is he/she is feeding 129 people across the United States. Organic farming and conventional farming produce the same yields with crops and animals.The large scale organic system could be beneficial if the standards are changed and made better for the environment. It is
Thirty years later, organic farming was in high demand, but suffered developing pains. Although there was agreements being made, there was no regulations put forth towards organic farming. Fast forwarding to present time, many consumers are starting to purchase organic food products even making it a trend. Written in Inouye, Alena, and McCauley’s 2006 article “Organic Farming Should Be Pursued”, “organic farming is gaining in popularity due to Americans ' increasing concern about food safety and environmental protection.” This quote assumes the reasoning behind the sudden popularity in organic farming is society’s attraction towards the idea of a cleaner food industry and environment. The article also mentions, “As a result, sales of organic foods in the United States have increased by more than 20 percent every year since 1996, reaching $7.8 billion in 2000.”(Inouye, Alena, McCauley) The fact that popularity towards organic farming grows at a rate of 20 percent every single year further proves how its movement has such an impact towards the consumers of
Organic foods have become more and more popular over the years, and consumers may or may not be knowledgeable when shopping for organic and/or conventional foods. This report will help define the difference between organic and conventional foods and farming, including the health benefits and risks. The demand for organic foods will also be discussed briefly. The purpose of this research is to describe and identify the advantages and issues that are involved with organic and inorganic foods.
Many consumers and farmers have discovered that living in an industrialized culture where the focus has become faster, bigger, and cheaper is not the best way to produce our food. Obsessed with productivity, the agriculture industry is reaping the negative consequences of creating an unsustainable environment for food production. Time and time again, the media captures stories regarding deadly bacterial contamination and dangerous pesticide contamination causing illness and death in our communities. The environment is also damaged and contaminated. This devastating trend, due to irresponsible farming practices as a result of the industrialization of the food industry, has become all too common. Returning to organic farming, which our grandparents referred to as farming, and reclaiming our food is not only our choice, it is our right.
The term “organic” is almost everywhere in modern society, whether it’s used to promote a product or it’s debated on whether it really benefits the human diet. Organic food is heavily debated on as it appears more and more in local grocery stores and farmers markets begin to populate, it raises questions such as “Is organic food better than food grown with pesticides and biologically engineered genes?” and “Are there benefits to eating organically over foods grown in any other way?” In terms of what data and results show in research may help lead to answers to most of the heavily debated issues throughout discussions on organic food.
Organic vs. Conventional Foods. (n.d.). Organic vs. Conventional Foods. Retrieved May 17, 2014, from https://www.drfuhrman.com/library/organicvsconventional.aspx
“Some people live to eat, others eat to live,” as rightly said by an anonymous author. Food is a source of life, we need to consume food everyday to survive and having nutritious food is essential to have a healthy living. Food that we consume today is an outcome of industrial farming which uses lot of chemical and pesticides to grow plant and use hormones and antibodies in animal and also to store food for longer period. So in this we have a question, what options do we have, this could be simple by consuming organic food, naturally grown vegetables and animal sources and sustainable growing methods. When we talk about organic food, we might not know much about it but we know it is good for our health and might consider it to consume everyday if readily available. So what is organic food? According to Allen, Gary J. & Albala, ed. (2007). Organic foods are produced using methods of organic farming, with limited modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, though organic pesticides, such as Bt toxin, are still used. Organic foods are also not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical additives. Thus organic food is comparatively nutritious, use less pestisides and is sustainable and less harmful to the environment
First of all, the main reason that people choose organic food is that people think organic foods have less chemical residue, such as pesticide, and fertilizer. In the article “Organic foods contain higher levels of certain nutrients, lower levels of pesticides, and may provide health benefits for the consumer”, Crinnion indicated that organic foods just had 33 percent of the amount of pesticide and fertilizer residues that found in conventional foods, and conventional foods contain two or more types of chemical residues than organic foods (Crinnion, 2010). In addition, Crinnion used a study of Seattle preschoolers as an example to demonstrate organic foods have less pesticide residues. The study of Seattle concluded that children who ate more conventional foods had six times higher level of pesticide resi...
The first benefit of eating organic food is that it avoids chemicals that are commonly found in traditional foods. Organic foods are produced using farming methods which do not involve applying pesticides or chemical fertilizers. They are not created using manufacturing solvents, chemical additives, or irradiation. Organic foods of animal origin, such as dairy products and meats, come from animals that are usually free range, or allowed to roam outdoors. Free range animals have organic foods to eat and they are not given any form of steroids as they are growing. This mean that people will not get the effects of those hormones in their food. Beef is a common food for people to consume. The cows that are free range will produce organic milk and cheese free of hormones. Free range chickens offer organic meat as well as eggs. There are different agencies who keep a close watch on places that have this type of certification. There are regular inspections that are planned as w...