Organic vs. Non-organic Food Essay Example for Free

Organic vs. Non- fundamental Food EssayBottom line, going green can figure come out of the closet envy. The public is constantly bombarded with the idea that organic products ar better. Perhaps this is true, but maybe it is brilliant selling simply selling a status symbol. Envy can come from a neighbors luscious, organically grown front yard to the hybrid vehicle a co-worker drives, to the organic regimens that consumers in a higher financial echelon seem to be able to only afford.Is this envy justifiable or is the nonion of organics and its superiority a tactic of propaganda to boost the already $30-plus billion industry even higher, check to Farm and Dairys April, 2012 article Organic Food Sales? Although prop wizardnts of organic food insist it is healthier than schematic food, non-organic foods atomic number 18 exceedingly comparable to its organic counterpart, possibly even to a greater extent necessary. The coupled States has evolved into a powerful nation car dinal that boasts of freedoms, luxuries and an overabundance of practically everything.The joined States is in any case a unsophisticated which has a population that grows greater and greater each(prenominal) year. Reasons including the numeral of births outnumbering the number of deaths, as swell up as the number of immigrants coming to live the American Dream. According to the Census Bureau End-of-2011 estimate, the United States will pull in 2012 with a population of roughly 312. 8 million people (Schlesinger, 2011, para, 1). This statistic takes into account one birth close to every 8 seconds, one death every 12 seconds as well as one new migrant entering the country approximately every 46 seconds.As cited by Schlesinger (2011), this ends up with a population increase of over two million in 2012. This is a staggering number and would only increase over time. In his article acme Industrial Agriculture has Improved do work for Hundreds of Years, George Wright (2011) expl ains how the using up of biotechnology and techniques such(prenominal) as caging animals used to increase the profits of agricultural industry is not a contemporary idea. Wright (2011, para. 7) states how the use of biotechnology to clear food has been around for over 8000 years. He gives examples such as enzymes being used to make foods like baked goods and dairy products. Wright also asserts that biotechnology is pass judgment to help agriculture by improving quality, nutrition, safety and the processing of raw crops, (Wright, 2011, para. 7). Biotechnology is not a process that is new to the agriculture industry. Finally, Wrights article (2011, para. 12) concludes that with the worlds population at sixsome billion and heading higher, in that respect is no practical alternative to industrial agriculture. He also points out that agricultural innovations from industries such as biotechnology argon advancing agricultural production, (Wright, 2011, para. 13). In addition, Averys a rticle Frontline Perpetuates Pesticide Myths (1993), Avert adds that it is believed that if the world converts to organic systems of farming, by 2050 this system of farming will not be able to supply enough food for the population and will be responsible for massive amounts of deaths callable to starvation. An opposite organic misnomer claims that organic livestock and plants are free from chemicals and unnecessary medications, unlike their non-organic counterparts.According to Nancy Spragues 2011 article, Counterpoint Organic Food is Unnecessary the Current Food Supply is Safe, there are a myths about organic food that are debunked. She discusses how organic foods are actually prepared and temporary hookup comparing and contrasting it to the process non-organic foods go through prior to arriving at the grocery shelves. When discussing about the use (or lack thereof) of pesticides, Sprague (2011, para. 4) notes that organic farmers can use pesticides from an approved list, which contradicts the consumers belief that organic foods have not come into contact with any pesticides.Sprague goes further to state the toxins that the organic industry supposedly takes pride into avoiding are contaminants that actually cannot be avoided. Nitrates, chemicals and antibiotics are now found pictorially within the environment collectable to liberal contamination of the earths natural resources (Sprague, 2011, para. 4). The organic industry also asserts that the levels of hormones in non-organic meats are extremely high and in-turn dangerous to the consumers health. In fact, in Lester Aldrichs (2006) article, Consumers Eat Up Organic Beef notwithstanding Costs, Unproven Benefits, he finds quite the opposite conclusion.Aldrich discusses the results of a study by Gary Smith, professor of meat sciences at the Center for Red Meat Safety. This study analyzed and compared the levels of hormones found in two-3 ounce steaks, one each from an organic animal and one from a non-or ganic animal. The results were shocking. Smiths compare/contrast analysis showed that there was an almost incomprehensible difference (on a nanogram scale) between the hormone levels from both the organic and non-organic samples, (Aldrich, 2006, para. 29).Aldrich (2006) hence compared these results to the levels of these same hormones to a typical birth control pill that is voluntarily consumed. The results showed the average birth-control pill provides 35,000 nanograms of oestrogen daily whereas a non-pregnant woman produces about 480,000 nanograms of estrogen, 240,000 nanograms of testosterone and 10. 1 million nanograms of progesterone daily, (Aldrich, 2006, para. 30). The comparison is astounding and should get any worries about added hormones in our food to rest. Prior to pasteurisation of food, people would die young delinquent to food-borne illnesses.Avery (2002) opens his article The Hidden Dangers In Organic Food with Products most people think are purer than other foods are making people seriously ill. Averys (2002) article mentions how the invention of the refrigerator as well as simple procedures such as food refrigeration and washing ones hands before feeding or making food would eventually keep food-borne illness to a minimum in the United States, although those unmarrieds who were quite ill or weak would die if exposed to food-borne bacteria.Unfortunately, with all the claims of health, organic food is graceful more notorious for being served on a plate with food-borne illnesses such as salmonella, and now more recently, E. coli. Avery (2002, para. 1) cites the U. S. Centers for Disease Control stating people who eat organic and natural foods are eight times liable(predicate) as the rest of the population to be attacked by a deadly new strain of E. coli bacteria, salmonella or fungus. According to Avery (2002), USDA offered organic famers a method that did not require either pesticides or pasteurization to protect the crops irradiation.T his process used low levels of gamma radiation to kill bacteria while maintaining the pertness of the food. Unfortunately, organic farmers were outraged and more than 200,000 protesters opposed the idea therefore the USDA removed this process from the last organic food standard (Avery, 2002). This has not been beneficial for public safety, as cited in Spragues (2011) where she points out that there have been several infections caused by E. coli in the United States during 2009 alone.Organic farming does have one huge positive aspect it strives for self-sustainability and leaves a small carbon footprint in the environment. With that said, organic farms, unheeding of whether or not its food can be proven to be healthier than conventional food, requires a much larger area of filth mass to produce the same amount of food than that of a conventional farm. According to Avery (2002), agriculture already takes up 36 percent of the worlds land surface. Avery (2002) translates this to me an that by year 2050, short of a worldwide cataclysm, the world will need 2.5 times more food output than what is needed today. Wilcox (2011, para. 26) states in her article Mythbusting 101 Organic tillage Conventional Agriculture that until organic farming can contend with the output of conventional farming due to space needed without the ecological costs involved, the need for more space will be gravely detrimental to the environment. Organic farms help the environment on small, local levels. Unfortunately they do not produce the same amount of food that a conventional farm can between 20%-50% down the stairs what a conventional farm of the same size will produce (Wilcox, 2011).Wilcox (2011) also emphasizes that with more good technology, organic farming may eventually be able to keep up with conventional food production, however, if more areas of the planet become transformed into organic farmland in the meantime, the planets natural habitats will begin to quickly deplete. Conventionally farmed foods and organic foods both have positive and negative aspects to their individual philosophies. Organic farming does not necessarily produce healthier food.Hormone levels in organic and non-organic foods are extremely similar and the lack of pesticides in organic food contributes to a higher frequency of food-borne illnesses. As much as this is true, the organic farm leaves a smaller carbon footprint than a conventional farm, which, in the long run will allow for the environment to sustain itself and be able to spread over producing more food. With that being said, when going to the store to buy food, the consumer should make the conscious choice to purchase organic foods when it is affordable, in order to support and promote self-sustainable/organic farming.If the choice is made to buy conventional foods, the consumer should not feel guilty or worried the food is substandard to organic. There should be confidence well-read that USDA regulations are being f ollowed by conventional farms to produce the highest quality food possible. ?References Aldrich, L. (2006, July 12). Consumers eat up organic beef despite costs, unproven benefits. Wall passage Journal. Retrieved from htttp//search. proquest. com. proxy. devry. edu/business/docprintview/398944062/abstract/137 Avery, D. T. (1993, Apr 01). Frontline perpetuates pesticide myths.Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http//search. proquest. com. proxy. devry. edu/business/docprintview/398370529/Record/1371 Avery, D. T. (2002, June 25). The hidden dangers in organic food. Retrieved from http//www. cgfi. org/2002/06/the-hidden-dangers-in-organic-food/ Sprague, N. (2011). Counterpoint Organic food is unnecessary the flowing food supply is safe. Points Of View Organic Food, 3. Retrieved from http//search. ebscohost. com/login. aspx? direct=tryedb=pwhAN=43286301site=pov-line Schlesinger, R. (2011, Dec 30).U. S.population 2012 nearly 313 million people. U. S. News and beingness Report, Retri eved from http//www. usnews. com/opinion/blogs/robert-schlesinger/2011/12/30/us-population-2012-nearly-313-million-people Wilcox, C. (2011, July 18). Mythbusting 101 organic farming conventional agriculture. Scientific American, Retrieved from http//blogs. scientificamerican. com/science-sushi/2011/07/18/mythbusting-101-organic-farming-conventional-agriculture/ Wright, G. (2011). Point Industrial agriculture has improved farming for hundreds of years. Points Of View Factory Farming, 2.