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, butbut 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 cheaplyly, but they really won’t be that much better than conventional foods anymore. The House of Agriculture is opening its eyes to this fact and is taking action. On April 18, 2007, there was the first ever meeting dedicated to discussing where organic agriculture can go and what is holding it back. They want to ensure 100% commitment to the integrity of organic foods, while organic agriculture is thriving.
Another problem with farms going organic is the fact that organic farms produce anywhere from 20-40% less than conventional farms. With this being said, if 50% of pre-existing farms made the switch to growing solely organic foods, there would be 10-20% less food being grown. This is a big problem. According to Cosmos magazine, it is estimated that if only organic farming was used the current population would likely starve.
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. SSsince 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.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
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.
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.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Government and Economy Views
The United States government is arguably the best government in the world because of its ability to change and fix the problems within and democratic power within the people. Since the start of America it has been this way, with the creation of three branches for checks and balances and splitting the legislative branch into two parts, the Senate and the House of Representatives, to equally represent states.
As of recently, however, this self fix approach has seemed to run out, perhaps because of the president himself. Since 2001, we have been in a war in Iraq with an undefined enemy and still have no plan of returning troops to home. At first, the supposed objective was to find the weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) that the terrorists in Iraq were building and disable their operations. Now, there have been no WMDs found, nor have we planned an escape route. We can’t just leave Iraq as quickly as we went in because the Iraq government would collapse. Instead, we should be slowly returning our troops to home as we train the Iraqi troops how to deal with their internal conflicts. If another objective is necessary before departure, it should be clearly stated what it is and how it is going to be accomplished, then executed as quickly as possible.
When President Bush entered office, he was left with the highest surplus in U.S. history from President Clinton. Now, the economy is failing and seems to be spiraling downward uncontrollably as big businesses are beginning to bankrupt and the U.S. has the largest deficit in their history, even more than the Great Depression. Now, insurance giant AIG and mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are on the brink of bankruptcy. The government’s solution to the problem is to bail them out by lending them money to keep them out of bankruptcy and taking over while they are dismantled. A potential fix for the economy would be to increase taxes on people and businesses making loads of money. There should be tax breaks, however, for companies based on percentage of American workers because this will lead to more money circulating in the American economy. Once the economy is stable again, there should be laws created restricting pollution and enforcing efficiencies. Businesses should be rewarded for going green and get tax breaks as an incentive.
On the positive side, there are many good things to having a Democratic government, especially voting. With political parties, however, people focus too much on the party itself as opposed to the individual candidate and his or her views. Controversial issues like abortion and the death penalty can be discussed and laws changed based on votes. (Personally, I’m pro-choice and pro death penalty, but it really bugs me when people are against the death penalty, yet pro-choice. How can you allow a fetus to be killed, but allow a murderer to live?) Also, the government is able to provide mechanisms to correct societal wrongs through means of litigation, media and enough freedom of speech for people to be able to convey important ideas.
The government and economy need to adjust in order to sustain themselves as times change and the U.S. is good at this. With a new president coming into office in January, there should be plenty of changes on the drawing board.
As of recently, however, this self fix approach has seemed to run out, perhaps because of the president himself. Since 2001, we have been in a war in Iraq with an undefined enemy and still have no plan of returning troops to home. At first, the supposed objective was to find the weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) that the terrorists in Iraq were building and disable their operations. Now, there have been no WMDs found, nor have we planned an escape route. We can’t just leave Iraq as quickly as we went in because the Iraq government would collapse. Instead, we should be slowly returning our troops to home as we train the Iraqi troops how to deal with their internal conflicts. If another objective is necessary before departure, it should be clearly stated what it is and how it is going to be accomplished, then executed as quickly as possible.
When President Bush entered office, he was left with the highest surplus in U.S. history from President Clinton. Now, the economy is failing and seems to be spiraling downward uncontrollably as big businesses are beginning to bankrupt and the U.S. has the largest deficit in their history, even more than the Great Depression. Now, insurance giant AIG and mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are on the brink of bankruptcy. The government’s solution to the problem is to bail them out by lending them money to keep them out of bankruptcy and taking over while they are dismantled. A potential fix for the economy would be to increase taxes on people and businesses making loads of money. There should be tax breaks, however, for companies based on percentage of American workers because this will lead to more money circulating in the American economy. Once the economy is stable again, there should be laws created restricting pollution and enforcing efficiencies. Businesses should be rewarded for going green and get tax breaks as an incentive.
On the positive side, there are many good things to having a Democratic government, especially voting. With political parties, however, people focus too much on the party itself as opposed to the individual candidate and his or her views. Controversial issues like abortion and the death penalty can be discussed and laws changed based on votes. (Personally, I’m pro-choice and pro death penalty, but it really bugs me when people are against the death penalty, yet pro-choice. How can you allow a fetus to be killed, but allow a murderer to live?) Also, the government is able to provide mechanisms to correct societal wrongs through means of litigation, media and enough freedom of speech for people to be able to convey important ideas.
The government and economy need to adjust in order to sustain themselves as times change and the U.S. is good at this. With a new president coming into office in January, there should be plenty of changes on the drawing board.
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