Organic over Conventional Food

Ashley Saucedo

Professor Monks

English 1A: M/W 11:10

13 November,  2017

Organic over Conventional

      As we roam the aisles of the grocery stores in search for our breakfast, lunch and dinner items; milk, eggs, chicken, and other food products we consume on a daily basis, we are filled with hundreds of different products with many different labels. Some claim to be “all natural,” “farm fresh,” and “organic.” What do these claims really mean? Can we trust them? Where is our food really coming from and what can we do to ensure that what we are consuming isn’t negatively affecting our health? It seems that many of the health issues we face the most today are food-related. Whether it is high cholesterol, certain cancers, heart disease, obesity, etc, it seems that many of them can be directly connected to what we consume, or don’t consume as nutrition on a daily basis. Choosing to eat organic food and foods with no antibiotics or added chemicals over conventional foods and meats and poultry that are well taken care of is better for the overall health of consumers because it can greatly reduce the risks of many illnesses and diseases.

      Organic food has been shown from the very beginning. The rise of conventional and processed foods came about when there was a higher demand for foods as well as technological advances such as refrigeration and convenience stores which allowed foods to last much longer in homes as well as on the shelves. Foods that are canned and pre-packaged include protection that help to hold the shelf life of a product as well as keeping the product for the consumer. Animals that are killed for consumption are given antibiotics to prevent disease among cattle as well as certain steroids or growth hormones in order to produce good amounts of meat for the population. However, it should be questioned if said preservatives and antibiotics actually do more harm for the consumers than they do benefit them. According to Victoria Boutenko, a teacher, writer, and artists that goes all around the world teaching class on how to live a healthier life, explained she started drinking nutritious food into smoothies and it help her live a longer and better life because she is drinking all greens.(p.130) This shows us that going green can be better for us instead of eating the food that is pre-packaged from the factories.

          According to Earl D.Straub, publisher from Nova Science explained, ”In order to obtain needed products and ingredients, organic handlers can rely on the spot market or arrange sales in  advance. Spot market sales are anonymous transactions between buyers and sellers that might take place in a wholesale market”. (p.23) Farmers have a chance of getting opportunity in getting their produce in markets, unlike the factories for conventional food. The food in the factory's use machines to make the packaged foods even though they come from field. They are very different from organic food.

      Organic food basically eliminates the risk of chemical residues but this is not its main advantage over conventional products. All chemicals in all stages of production makes organic food much more environmentally friendly because the use of all natural production methods eliminates the risk of soil and underwater disease, and helps preserve biodiversity and wildlife and both have been seriously affected by the human actions, mainly because of urbanization and intensive agriculture. Organic farming also improves animal welfare because organic farms are required to keep their animals in certain environment and provide them access to sunlight and outdoors, for instance. According to Mie Axel, et al., staff members from the STOA organization said  “Different agricultural management systems may have an impact on the sustainability of food systems, as they may affect human health as well as animal wellbeing, food security and environmental sustainability”.(1) Therefore, we have no clue of the chemicals involved in our food, so we have to be careful with what we eat.

      Conventional produce is very different from organic produces. Conventional produces uses chemical fertilizers to promote plant growth, while organic farming employs manure and compost to fertilize the soil. they sprays pesticides to get rid of pests, while organic farmers turn to insects and birds, mating disruption, or traps.they also use chemicals like insect powder to manage weeds, while organic farming rotates crops, hand weeds, or mulches.When raising animals, conventional farmers give animals antibiotics, growth hormones, and medications to spur growth and prevent disease. Organic farmers feed their animals organic feed and allow them to roam. They also will make sure the animals have a balanced diet and clean housing.

      Many do not see the harmful effects conventional foods pose to consumers. They believe that the chances of their produce being infected are almost one to one million. However, these risks are something that pose a real threat to the public whether it is short term or long term. Many Smith 6 should consider that the conventional food industry runs more like a business than anything else. They produce a mass amount of produce to gain profit. While we do have intercessors such as the USDA that inspect these industries and the food to make sure they are “safe”, we never really know what exactly goes into the foods we consume and there is no way of making sure that the conventional foods we are consuming are not doing our health any harm.