Organic Food Effects On The Environment

“Really, eating healthy is about making the case for good food choices. Choose fruits and vegetables which are nutritious and protective, regardless of their processing methods,” Nutritional Sciences student Morgan Bahl once said (Bahl n.pg.). Many Americans have recently become concerned about the health of their foods and where they come from. In their quest to be healthier, they often turn to products labeled “organic”. That might not always be the wisest choice. Organic foods are not better for consumers because they are not beneficial to the environment, the risks associated with pesticides are minimal, and consumer perceptions about organic food are often incorrect. The effects that organic foods place on the environment are not consistently beneficial. First of all, large unsustainable farms take away copious amounts of land from natural environments. Peter Laufer is an experienced journalist who has written on a variety of topics. According to Laufer, “Coastline preserving mangroves in Southeast Asia are ripped out, for example, to make room for palm oil plantations, rice paddies, and coconut farms” (Laufer n.pg.). Although these farms abstain from chemicals, companies do a worse thing for the environment through their clearing of land, because that damages the ecosystems in the area. Furthermore, transport of goods from other locations also harms the environment. Steven Shapin, a History of Science professor a Harvard, depicts this: “...a Cornell [University]