Weighing the costs of an organic diet
Members of the food community have discussed the pros and cons of adopting an organic diet. Some say that the rise in price is not worth the financial cost. Proponents of organic food say the diet has higher vitamins and is less harmful than the conventional diet.
“Organic food is now a federally mandated program,” said Jennifer Reeve, assistant professor of organic and sustainable agriculture.
She said organic farms have to be certified and meet minimum standards, which include generating fertility on farms with natural materials such as manure and composts instead of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.
In order to be certified, a farm must make more than $2,500 a year in growth. However, farms that make less than that do not have to be certified even though they can still be referred to as organic farms, Reeve said.
“Research does point out to a general trend that most organic farms have a lower environmental footprint,” she said.
She also said that research has been done in a controlled setting that sometimes organic foods do show up as having higher amounts of vitamin C and antioxidants.
Although some people are concerned about food-poisoning outbreaks associated with animal manure used in producing organic food, Reeve said there is no evidence for the case.
“I personally suspect that there’s a lot of fear among the manufacturers of pesticides and farm chemicals,” she said. “There’s a lot of fear that all these media debates about organic food could hurt their bottom line.”
Reeve added that all farms are made to be incredibly careful, especially if they are selling fresh produce to ensure that food does not get contaminated. She said organic farming does not allow the production of meat in horribly confined condition. This is because most E.coli and salmonella outbreaks are spread by meat.
Blake Thomas, a senior majoring in environmental studies, has been eating organic food for the past five years.
“I eat it because of the practices that are used when it’s grown — as far as being more sustainable toward the environment,” he said. “My family eats vegetables that they grow themselves on the land that they have.”
Thomas has also seen benefits from eating organic food, he said.
“What I noticed is I recognize that there is a psychological standpoint to it where I feel more confident in the fact that I’m eating foods that were raised in a better environment,” he said. “(Organic food) gives me more energy, helps with my studies, and I feel more alert, sharper and more intelligent.”
Lacey Herbst and Karmella Dolecheck, both seniors majoring in animal and dairy science, agreed, saying they do not think that organic food is any different from conventional food.
“As far as benefits, I don’t believe that they’ve actually proven that there are any benefits,” Herbst said. “It’s simply a marketing ploy because they can charge money for their product.”
Dolecheck said the USDA has put out information that there is no health difference between conventional and organic products — that even organic farms are using organically certified pesticides.
Although both Herbst and is not against organic products, she is opposed to the marketing techniques used to promote the products. Dolecheck agreed.
“The thing that I’m against is when people market organic in a way that makes conventional look bad,” Dolecheck said.
Herbst does not think that the higher price of organic food is worth it. Herbst said that since organic food is popular right now, the price for the product is higher. According to her, organic farmers have to be certified and in order to get those certifications, they have to pay for it. Therefore, she said, organic food consumers are not paying for better product. Instead, they are paying for those certifications.
Dolecheck, who wrote a paper on organic beef versus conventional beef, said that the only difference between both products is how the animals are raised, which means they might be housed differently and get different kinds of shots, but ultimately it is the same product that is produced.
“I tried some organic milk and it had a little bit better flavor because there’s more fat in it,” Herbst said. “There’s more fat in it because fat is money and as an organic farmer, he can charge more money for that extra fat to be in there because it’s more cost-worthy to him. Whereas for a conventional farmer, it’s actually better for him to market that fat as butter or cheese because he makes more money for that.”
Reeve said some people are against the high price of organic food and others feel that the organic industry might be falsely promoting the benefits. She added that some traditional farmers are defensive when they are told they are farming the wrong way when they have been doing it all their lives.
“For some people, those benefits are very real, while for other people they don’t like the impression that some of the articles written about organic food might come across as somewhat elitist,” Reeve said. “Some people maybe just don’t like it, because it has become associated with the environmental movement, so you have the political element as well.”
Reeve said a lot of organic farmers come from conservative farm backgrounds and made the transition to organic farming to help financially. This is because family farming has been struggling for the last 30 years. Hence, she said, organic is seen as an alternative and diverse market.
“That’s why I don’t quite understand why some people still get upset about this, because, really, it doesn’t hurt anyone and it’s good,” Reeve said. “It’s good for the economy, it’s good for the farmers and it’s good for consumers who want the choice.”
– nadiah.johari@aggiemail.usu.edu