The Need for Choice: A Healthier Society

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Recommended: Literature review on why organic farming is better than conventional farming

In life, it always seems like the best things have the worst consequences. Driving 120 mph down I-5 would be quite fun, yet doing so would likely result in a prison sentence. Similarly, I enjoy eating pizza, but this combination of cheese, sauce and pepperoni makes for a meal that, if eaten enough, could result in a visit to the doctor’s office. Lately it seems like everyone’s goal in life is to eat healthier. There are grocery stores devoted to being natural and organic and food companies are constantly coming up with healthier options for restaurants and at home. Many people are now pushing towards an entirely organic society, that is, attempting to abolish the popular factory farm system for a more home-grown approach, replacing machines with workers; chemicals with love. However, this theoretical move towards an entirely healthy society is too drastic for us at this day in age. There are already millions of people suffering from hunger all around the country, and worrying eating healthy should be the last thing on their minds. Though not exactly ideal, our food situation in this country is not as bad as it may seem. Also, as a capitalist society, we have many choices as to what we buy. This should not be limited in order to make the country potentially healthier. Both large-scale factory farms and smaller organic farms have a place in our society. It is this combination that provides the consumer with the option to buy more expensive organic foods if they have the means, or to buy potentially cheaper food products mass-produced in a factory.

Over the last century there have been numerous technological advances in the field of agriculture. Chemical herbicides and pesticides, development of hybrid plant seeds, specially engine...

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...althy people buy Ferraris and fine wines, while the less fortunate of us buy Hondas and Five Dollar Footlongs™. Both lifestyles are perfectly acceptable, and if you are happy, it does not matter what you buy. So why can’t our food be like our possessions? There is a place for both food made in a factory and food made on a field. If we all had one choice for everything, life would be boring. Health is not only determined by what you eat, but by the emotions you feel. If restrictions on farming were put in place, our physical health may increase, but our overall emotional health would decrease. The stress some people have just trying to get by in life is enough, but to have these people forced to overpay for organic food that may or may not be noticeably healthier is unneeded. It is choice that drives us. Take that away, and we are no more human than the food we eat.

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