What makes food organic or natural? People most often use organic and natural as interchangeable words to describe food; however, there is much more to these descriptions than meets the eye. In his essay, 106 Science Claims and a Truckful of Baloney, William Speed, deliberately states what he believes the word natural is in reference to food: only a mystic word used to describe food that is not completely made of synthetic materials. Commonly, organic food is referred to as the better choice, healthier for one’s life, but one cannot take this to heart without executing further research. Of course, whether organic food is reliable or not is not the only question to be asked. There is also the talk of whether or not organic food is worth the …show more content…
However, William Speed has quite a common view of natural food: “Chicken labeled “all natural” may have been crammed by the thousands into tight pens, their claws and beaks clipped, and stuffed full of antibiotics they’d never find in that “natural” barnyard.” (Speed, “106 Science Claims and a Truckful of Baloney,” 614) He is over exaggerating to get his point across; treating the chickens in that way appears to be morally wrong; they should have the chance to be chickens, run free on over grassy hills. It all sounds like a wonderful contemplation, but there are people in the world who are dying from starvation, and they could really use larger chickens. Altering chickens or any other type of food product to accommodate for our growing economy may come across as ethically wrong, but the fact is, one must keep in mind that there is a growing economy that requires a copious amount of food to function. If everything went completely organic, there would be no possible way to sustain our growing society. A farmer from the film, Food Inc., which is a documentary on the take-over of chemically processed foods in the grocery stores today, had a similar exaggerated view to William Speed: “We have allowed ourselves to become so disconnected and ignorant about something that is as intimate as the food that we eat.” (Food Inc.) To an extent, as a people, America has lost …show more content…
Despite the increase in organic buyers, the majority of people do not know how to merely interpret what the word organic even entails. The United States Department of Agriculture enforces and regulates the labeling of organic products, namely food products (cornucopia.org). In addition to the elusiveness of organic foods, organics are apt to be more expensive than conventional food; this is because instead of a huge manufacturing plant, one would be receiving their food products from a small farm (where a small amount of food is being grown and harvested). People choose to argue that organic food is far better for you than conventional or natural food; however, there are only minute differences between the two. Stephanie Watson, an executive editor of Harvard’s Women Health Watch, states:“The researchers discovered very little difference in nutritional content, aside from slightly higher phosphorous levels in many organic foods, and a higher omega-3 fatty acid content in organic milk and chicken” (Harvard.edu). So people raise quite the ruckus over “going organic” for higher phosphorus and omega-3 fatty acids in their food. Phosphorus and calcium are both the most bountiful minerals contained in the body. They are both used to build healthy bones and teeth. Not only does phosphorus help build strong bones, but it also plays
Natural foods may have less sugar, but foods with standards have the same ingredients. The word natural became a marketing strategy to give information about the food. Using the word natural is a way to see the food at a higher price and this is confusing the buyer. Food companies are over using the word “natural” because people actually believe the companies. The buyers think it means “pure, low-fat, and better” (442), while food companies use it through the definition in the dictionary.
I originally thought about the word organic as fruits and vegetables picked freshly from the branches of a tree and packaged into stores and chickens wandering large fields, I realize that it is not that simple. Michael Pollan traced some of his organic purchases back to their sources and discovers that there are organic feedlots, organic dairy cows whose lives are not any nicer than the conventional, and organic “free-range” chickens whose only access to the outside world is a small door in their shed, which is only open for about two weeks. “The organic movement, as it was once called, has come a remarkably long way in the last thirty years, to the point where it now looks considerably less like a movement than a big business” (Pollan 138). My thoughts now on organic foods at supermarkets such as Wegmans and Walmart is that the animals aren’t treated as great as conventional foods. I’ve realized that the extra cost of organic that I pay is largely because of the transportation.
Shoppers might object, claiming they do not have the means to pay for organic, ecological or culturally available food. They might point out some organic food is more expensive like milk, a staple to our diet. If a shopper bought one gallon of organic milk for $5.99 at Trader Joe’s, a popular Whole Foods chain store, each week for a year instead of a gallon of regular milk for $1.98 at Kwik Trip, a local gas station, they would be spending $208.52 more a year on milk alone. Although I understand that it can be a little more expensive, I still maintain that there are ways to make shopping in a more healthy way, cheaper. To starting with, we could purchase in-season produce because out-of-season is more expensive, due to shipping and storage costs.
The U.S. agricultural industry can now produce unlimited quantities of meat and grains at remarkably cheap prices. But it does so at a high cost to the environment, animals and humans”
Michael Pollan informs us of how most organic isn’t organic. We see the term organic all over grocery stores and many of us take it for face value. People buy organic and think they are doing the world a favor by purchasing it. This turns out to be false. Michael Pollan writes, “Organic milk comes from factory farms.”
Natural foods have many different tastes, shapes, colors, and plenty of nutrients. Many people don’t know this because it’s not advertised at all- while people hear all sorts of things about the new burger Wendy’s has to offer, they rarely hear anything about fresh food, so when they try to think of something to eat, the first thing that they think of isn’t going to be particularly healthy. This is an issue with large corporations and marketing- big businesses use natural human cravings to steer people away from fresh food, and towards meat-filled and processed foods, so we have to be mindful
In the book “The Omnivore's Dilemma” Michael Pollan explains the benefits of eating organic food vs eating non organic food. One study Pollan talks about is a study from the University of California and says “the study showed that the organic fruits and vegetables contained higher levels of vitamin C.”(page 156 OD) The study proves that organic food is healthier than conventional crops because they are richer in vitamins. Healthier food is better for the public’s consumption. Another reason the industrial organic food is better for the public is because it is better for farmers and labors growing it.
Michael Pollan’s alternative to Factory farming has given a huge insight into a better ethics on food. In “The Animals: Practicing Complexity” Michael Pollan writes about a polyface farm and how it works. The goal of a polyface farm is to emotionally, economically, and environmentally enhance agriculture. Everything on a polyface farm has the potential to be helpful to something else on the farm. Pollan states “The chicken feed not only feeds the broilers but, transformed into chicken crap, feeds the grass that feeds the cows that, as I was about to see, feeds the pigs and the laying hens” (Pollan 345).
First of all, Pollan states just because it says it's organic doesn't mean it really is. If you buy an “organic” salad at your local grocery store, farmers will still use pesticides to keep bugs away and other animals. The chemicals they use are all natural, but it's not truly organic if you use pesticides or other chemicals. In The Omnivore’s Dilemma Pollan says, “Instead of toxic pesticides, crops are sprayed with natural substances, like BT, a pesticide made from a common soil bacteria” (140.) This quote proves that big organic industrial companies use pesticides to help produce grow.
The Omnivor’s Dilemma by Micheal Pollan talks about four different food chains such as industrial, hunter-gathering, local sustainable, and the industrial organic food chain which covers the secrets of the United States food system and what our food actually contains in the book. But have you ever wondered what food chain was the best for America? The industrial organic food chain is the best to feed the US because it’s better for our bodies and the environment. The first reason why the industrial organic food chain is better out of all the other three food chains is from this quote which argues: “It meant being free from the control of corporations.”
Local sustainable is one of the four food chains Michael Pollan talks about in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma. The local sustainable food is grown on small farms. Food from farms like these don’t travel long distances like they would in the industrial or industrial organic food chain. These farms also have diverse crops and animals. Local sustainable is the best food chain to feed all of the people in the United States because it doesn’t harm the environment, animals aren’t mistreated, and crops are naturally raised.
To begin, organic foods do not have significantly better nutritional and health value than conventional foods. Many people choose to go organic because they want to live a “healthy, pesticide-free lifestyle”. Contrary to popular belief, organic farming actually does use pesticides. The word organic does not necessarily mean pesticide free. Organic food means that the pesticides used are derived from natural ingredients.
Many people choose to eat only organic because it’s said to be healthier but when compared to non-organic food the difference is slim. Regardless people continue to buy organic products. People get emotionally connected to
Organic Food In the society where people are getting more concerned about one 's health organic food has become a widely spread and followed by many people tendency. Organic food is believed to have better impact on person 's well-being and not to cause harm to people and the surrounding world due to its ecological nature. The debate that has been recently developed around this topic cannot be solved easily since both supporters and their counterparts provide reasonable arguments supporting their positions. However, to get into the problem and find the answer to a question that concerns many people it is necessary to identify organic food at first.
Well, I have a good interest in food so that is why I chose to write about the agriculture and the history of organic foods. Most food today is organic. Bananas which are organic protects the rainforest. What is a organic banana. It’s followed by a couple of rules that a normal company