Organic Food Is Better Food? Essay

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and, for what it is worth, there are no studies that conclusively prove thus far that eating organic leads to better human health, and even if there may be some anecdotal evidence that eating organic makes people 'feel better,' such organic consumer's better health is likely rooted in their greater education about the environment, affluence, access to better quality of food, and overall wealth, a kind of correlation but not causation of two possibly unrelated factors.

The fact that organic is not synonymous with health is further underlined by the dizzying amount of products bearing the term organic. As a cursory glance at the supermarket will yield evidence that the term 'organic' is no longer limited to produce. There are organic cereals, Pop Tarts, cookies, and potato chips. These products are manufactured from substances that meet the government's standards for what is organic, presumably because they are made from grains that are not treated with chemical pesticides. But these foods are hardly beneficial for human health. They are often highly processed foods, low in nutrients, high in calories, and high in sugar, and contribute to the nation's obesity crisis rather than contribute to saving the planet. Worse than other processed foods, in a way, that might make even casual consumers guilty for eating (such as 'regular' sugary cereals and snack cakes) organic processed foods contain the veneer of good health, even though they pack just as many calories and have just as much sugar as their non-organic counterparts. They do not encourage this generation of eaters or the next to fundamentally change and alter their relationship with the land and food, merely use the label organic to sell more food, often at a higher price.

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The cost of eating organic is also another, often shameful secret hidden in the proud trumpeting of the importance of organic food. Many people, especially in these cash-strapped times, simply cannot afford to buy organic food, and they use this as an excuse not to make any alterations in their life habits. If only a small percentage of the population can afford to eat food that meets organic standards, this will do little to change the overall impact of human life on the planet's ecosystem. Organic farming remains costly -- but buying more plants, rather than eating so much meat, is something that all consumers can do. Meat production, whether the meat is produced organically or not, leaves a tremendous carbon footprint because of the energy it takes to fatten a calf for slaughter, to say nothing of the methane gases large herds of corn-fed cattle release into the environment. But eating large amounts of organic produce may be just as cost-prohibitive as buying meat. By making eating only organic food the ideal, at least at its presently cost-prohibitive present price point, consumers may simply ignore the idea of changing how they eat to help the planet and their own state of health.

Organic food, which is now available at Wal-Mart as well as local health stores, is currently fashionable. But improving the planet and this generation's state of health will take much more than buying organic, and going organic may not be the answer at all. Reducing the consumption of meat, eating with the seasons to lessen food costs and improve food quality, and making better food choices are the answer. Organic is a label, being environmentally conscious is a lifestyle......

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