Organic Vs Local

The latest hype with regards to food seems to be going “organic.” It has taken off so quickly that even Wal-Mart has begun to sell products that are “organic,” but what does that mean? According to Wikipedia, “Organic foods are grown without the use of conventional pesticides, artificial fertilizers, human waste, or sewage sludge, and that they were processed without ionizing radiation or food additives.” There are very strict regulations set and enforced by the National Organic Program (NOP). People, however, have been debating if it’s better to eat organic foods, or to buy locally.

Organic foods are great due to their reduced pesticide residue as compared to conventional foods. They also allegedly taste better than conventionally grown foods. The downfall of buying organic lies in the fact that a person living in New York may be buying organic from California. With this being the case, that person now has a choice of buying the organically grown fruit from California which is more expensive and used more foreign oil to be transported across the nation or buy a locally grown fruit that was grown by a local farmer. If this consumer buys organic, they’re ignoring the energy crisis, whereas if they buy local, they’re supporting the local economy, but aren’t getting the product that they desire. This choice is up to the consumer, personally, I’d buy locally to stimulate the economy and conserve energy.

Now there’s also the problem caused by big farms which are contributing to the upsweep of “big organic,” which is just organic foods mass-produced. These “big organic” products pose problems for small farmers because Wal-Mart has announced that they will offer their organic products for only 10% more than conventional foods, whereas now consumers are paying about 50% more for organic. How is Wal-Mart going to be able to sell these foods for so cheap? According to National Geographic, they will be squeezing suppliers to lower their costs and add pressure to weaken regulations on organic standards. Thus, consumers will be able to buy organic foods cheap, but they really won’t be that much better than conventional foods anymore.

Big organic could potentially lower the quality of organic products by running small high quality farmers out of business while mass-producing lower quality organic foods, but much more cheaply than before. Personally, I’m not a consumer of organic foods since my parents don’t buy it; I’ve never been exposed to it. I do, however, believe that if you have to choose between local and organic products, go local and most of all avoid buying big organic products the most. If worst comes to worst, resort back to buying conventional food like everyone did before the craze, but don’t buy big organic.