Organic Food At Issue

fruits and vegetables where the organic label matters most kale collard greens summer squash nectarines imported peaches spinach strawberries hot peppers

organic issues there are two main concerns 1 farms now use vast amounts of chemicals as fertilisers and pesticides plus increasing quantities of energy particularly fossil fuels for every calorie of energy in food that is derived from the sun between four and ten calories are added from petrochemicals

one class of pesticides that organic farmers must avoid is organophosphates these are among the insecticides most widely used on u s produce and include chlorpyrifos which is commonly applied to dozens of crops including grapes citrus tree nuts broccoli spinach blueberries and strawberries

organic food products also are not allowed to contain any genetically modified ingredients nor artificial additives although conventionally grown food is claimed to be safe absence of all non natural ingredients makes organic food without a doubt a healthier and safer choice because the long term effects of those quot safe quot doses of pesticides preservatives and other chemicals remain unknown

organic foods have added sugar salt and fat and potential for fraud as with any other type of food sold in the supermarket not only that although they were grown in an organic way they may still have been tampered with to present them for sale

economies of scale in consumer terms means the more you buy the more a company will produce and the more you produce the lower prices will fall supply and demand is a huge issue though organics are gaining popularity each year organic food sales are nowhere near conventional food sales

in this chapter we look at the current issues surrounding organic food in the united states we first look at production issues such as profit yield crop insurance genetically modified organisms gmos input availability market information number and size of organic farms and development pressures

organic produce did have the slight edge in food safety with 30 lower pesticide residues than conventional foods in general pesticide levels in both organic and non organic foods were within allowable safety limits

while there is still a discussion going on regarding whether organic food is healthier than non organic food it might be the case when people are creating the problem out of nowhere there are natural products which can cause more harm to the human body than chemicals

why people aren x27 t buying into organic food products although the organic market has grown it is still a small slice of the pie

organic food has never been so popular among american consumers ironically that x27 s bad news for the brand that made organic a household name namely the austin based whole foods on

the study in the journal science advances states that organic food is not the x27 holy grail x27 to fix the environment and food security challenges while it may have only marginal health benefits

organic farmers and food producers grow and produce food without using synthetic chemicals such as pesticides and artificial fertilisers they do not use genetically modified gm components or expose food to irradiation animal welfare and environmental sustainability are important issues for organic farmers

organic foods have exploded in popularity over the last two decades in fact us consumers spent 39 1 billion on organic produce in 2014 1 the popularity does not seem to be slowing down as

organic food production is a self regulated industry with government oversight in some countries distinct from private gardening currently the european union the united states canada japan and many other countries require producers to obtain special certification based on government defined standards in order to market food as organic within their borders

organic foods prohibit many of the chemicals known as quot obesogens quot that trigger our bodies to store fat antibiotics growth hormones pesticides and synthetic preservatives are just a few of the chemicals that researchers have defined as obesogens

beyond pesticides offers the latest information on the hazards of pesticides and least toxic alternatives as well as ongoing projects including children x27 s health pollinators and pesticides organic food and agriculture mosquito control and organic lawn care

all foods including organic are prone to food born illnesses like e coli and salmonella organic food in not necessary safer and has the same risk for food borne bacteria e coli salmonella listeria and others contamination as nonorganic foods 3 organic fruits and vegetables have a shorter shelf life

proponents of organic often state that the food is more nutritious than conventionally grown foods while this remains a contested area of research at least two recent meta analyses suggest that organic foods are higher in anti oxidants which are considered important in the fight against cancer

the overarching issue with the price of organic foods is that the demand exceeds the supply of the organic food market in the economy specifically the floridian organic food industry products that are high in demand eventually become costlier because the production has to occur at a faster rate and higher volumes

why is food security an issue for some people ask students if they know of food insecure people and what their issues might be do families who have enough money to buy food sometimes suffer from food insecurity why why not 4 in reference to sod x27 s food miles campaign discuss how organic food can help with food security e g lower

current issue international harmonization of food safety standards cultural and historical factors that are not based on science can be powerful determinants related to the rejection of international standards

the organic food market o pportunities and challenges 65 2 2 sustainability local food and organics nowadays sustainability is becoming one of the main social issues in the business field

health issues big ag and big pharma are interested in profit not public health and their lobbyists fight to protect their corporate interests not consumer interests oca advocates for a sustainable integrative healthcare system with an emphasis on prevention nutrition wellness promotion and freedom of choice in healthcare for everyone

contamination in organic foods is a concern since organic practices revolve around cycling nutrients crops deplete the nutrients in the soil which then must be replenished for new crops to thrive

quot thousands of cases a year of food illness are triggered from organic products quot said stuart smyth a professor at the university of saskatchewan x27 s bioresource policy business and economics

when organic food travels long distances to market food miles it creates pollution that may offset any positive environmental effects of organic farming however buying local food which may or may not be grown organically helps reduce the environmental costs associated with food miles

organic food must be kept separate from non organic food is both are raised on the same land or processed in the same facility in the united states for producers to label processed food quot organic quot it must contain 95 organically grown ingredients they can use the label quot contains organic ingredients quot as long as 70 of the ingredients are

my blog entry saying nice things about wal mart last week didn x27 t draw too much fire so maybe this is a good time to say some things about organic food not coincidentally i also blogged last week about wal mart x27 s foray into the world of organics organic farming is a business indeed it x27 s a big one

organic food sold by larger players is also more likely to come from far away whether from across the country or from the other side of the world organic agriculture especially livestock production is expensive in the us and often does not meet the price point that larger companies seek for their inputs