#9: A Rich Man's Wine, A Poor Man's Poison

                Organic food is healthier. Organic food is cleaner. Organic food is better. These are the ideas drilled into our heads, fostered by false advertisements and other misleading sources. Too often are we convinced that organic farming is not only better for our own health, but also beneficial for the environment. However, in all reality, while "organic" sounds far better, it is not always synonymous with good and safe. Many tests and analyses have been carried out and they all came to one similar conclusion: "our notion of organic farming is an idyllic fallacy."

                One of the main reasons consumers lean toward organics is the fact that they love to see the word "natural" slapped onto the wrappings of their food. Sure I'll admit that natural does sound more pleasing but let's just take a moment to consider all the things that occur naturally in our world, shall we? As Christie Wilcox, a Ph.D. student in cellular and molecular biology at the University of Hawaii, states, "anthrax and botulinum toxin are 100 percent natural." Does that make them safe? Would you be willing to consume these as well? I didn't think so. Fact is, natural does not always mean you're out of harm's way. Moreover, proponents of organics also stress that naturals are better for the environment. I beg to differ. In a study conducted by a member of AAAS, statistics projected that "organic farms are only about 80 percent as productive as conventional ones." This decrease in productivity brings with it devastating environmental consequences when we consider things on a long-term basis. Since productivity is lower, farmers will begin to seek more land to increase their yields as their current plots take a while to grow. The problem with this, however, is that  already more than a third of our ice-free land has been wiped out for agricultural purposes.  The thirst for more farming plots would only increase this proportion and fragile ecosystems could be severely shattered. Not to mention, a study conducted by Oxford University scientists clearly indicates that organic methods actually produce more carbon emissions per unit of food. Such emissions contribute greatly to the issue of global warming as these gases warm the atmosphere, significantly altering the climate and species that live near that certain area. Thus, this so called "environmentally friendly" way of producing food is seriously flawed. To take this further, when looking at the economical impacts of organic food, we begin to see that fruits and vegetables costs 10 to 174 percent more. If the U.S. were to convert all foods to organic, poorer individuals would begin to avoid fruit and vegetable consumption as it is much too costly. This would decrease consumption by approximately 10 percent, as Bjorn Lomborg calculates in The Skeptical Environmentalist. To push the envelope further, Lomborg proposes that this decrease in consumption would, in theory, increase the chances of cancer by about 4.6 percent, with 26,000 annual deaths, since the consumption of certain fruits and vegetables helps lessen our vulnerability to cancer.

                All in all, the switch from current production methods to a completely organic society would entail a tremendous price tag. Of course organic foods are, in some ways, beneficial, as they use less pesticides. However, prices would skyrocket and the benefits of such farming would not overshadow the damages.  World hunger is already a prevalent issue in our world. Thus, we must strive to produce cheaper foods instead of more expensive ones. What are society needs is a balance between productivity and sustainability. Organic food is not the solution. Organic food is food for the wealthy, not for the poor, a rich man's wine, a poor man's poison.

Work Cited

Hall, Mckenzie. "Does Organic Food Matter?" The Detroit News. N.p., 21 Mar. 2013. Web. 27 Mar. 2013. <http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130321/LIFESTYLE05/303210326>.

Tepper, Rachel. "Whole Foods CEO: Organic Food Is Worth It." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 19 Sept. 2012. Web. 27 Mar. 2013. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/19/organic-whole-foods-defense_n_1895551.html?utm_hp_ref=organic-food>.

Wilcox, Christie. "The Ecological Case Against Organics." The NY Times. N.p., 10 Sept. 2012. Web. 27 Mar. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/09/10/is-organic-food-worth-the-expense/the-ecological-case-against-organic-farming>.