Organically Produced Food Improves Human - Annotated Bibliography Example

Singer, Peter. Organically Produced Food Improves Human, Animal, and Environmental Health. Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 4 Nov. 2012. Print. Majority of people who use organic food aim to avoid health hazards associated with it. Further, they argue that it is good to practice natural methods of food production since it is perceived that food produced using natural methods is healthy and contain less chemicals such as pesticides. For instance, drawing from an experiment conducted on children in US, the urine of those children who consumed foods grown conventionally had more pesticides residues than the urine sample of those children who consumed food grown naturally. Singer (2012) argues that production of food organically does not destroy soil quality but instead keeps the quality of the soil because it does not involve the use of synthetic fertilizers that makes the soil lose its nitrogen and other important nutrients. In addition, organic food encourages biodiversity in the sense that it does not foster the use of intensive herbicides and pesticides that endanger crop species but instead they use no herbicides and apply less pesticide thus increasing the soil organic matter. Singer (2012) argues that conventional farming use synthetic fertilizers made from nitrogen, which in turn finds its way into lakes, rivers, and other ecosystems thus affecting water surroundings. Contrary, organic farming does not pollute the ecosystem because farmers use fewer fertilizers and in some cases, they do not use any fertilizers. It is significant to note that organic method of farming enables the soil to store more carbon thus reducing the rate of carbon dioxide emission to the atmosphere. Taverne, Dick. Genetically Engineered Crops Do Not Threaten Organic Food Production. Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 4 Nov. 2012. Print. For the last decades, there has been heated debate regarding the safety of the genetically engineered crops. The US has been on the forefront to advocate for genetically engineered crops unlike in Europe where such crops are not accepted or strictly restricted. In other parts of the world, the use of genetically engineered crops has increased rapidly. Crops such as corn, soya, and cotton in the US are entirely produced genetically thus, benefiting farmers, the environment, and consumers. Pest-resistant crops and herbicide tolerant crops have decreased the application of pesticides and herbicides, which in turn has decreased soil erosion because there is no farm cultivation or tilling. In return, there has been high agricultural production. Taverne (2012) argues that organic farming methods wastes land since they use less land. Further, there is no prove that organically produced foods are more nutritious than genetically produced foods. Therefore, there is the need to change some assumptions about genetically engineered crops. Leu, Andre. Organic Agriculture Can feed the World. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 4 Nov. 2012. Print. Leu states that advocates of conventional methods of agricultural production have argued that the world would lack food if we continued relying on organic methods of farming. They have faulted organic methods of farming citing that it is not sustainable and produces low yields than conventional farming. Therefore, they justify the use of genetically modified crops, poisonous synthetic fertilizers, animal feed antibiotics, and growth hormones. Thus, according to them, without these methods, the world would starve due to lack of food. Leu has an opposing view to these sentiments arguing that those countries that faced starvation is due to political instability and corrupt governments that prevent their respective citizens from producing high yields. Global starvation cannot be attributed to lower agricultural yields but poor farming practices. Today, farmers face economic crisis because of low prices on farm produce. This is because there is oversupply of commodities. Production systems have changed in that they have adopted price driven approach where supply of the commodity determines the price of the commodity. Countries such as Brazil and North America have started converting their agricultural lands to bio-fuels in an attempt to establish good markets for their respective farmers. This implies less food will be grown since most productive lands are being used for other purposes. In sum, the world produces enough food to feed the entire population. The problem is the poor distribution and farming methods that hinder production. This hinders many people in the world from getting sufficient nutrition. The issue of the world lacking enough food cannot be attributed to organic methods of farming. Crossfield, Paula. Genetically Engineered Foods Threaten to Contaminate organic Food. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 4 Nov. 2012. Print. The department of agriculture in the US wanted to accept genetically engineered sugar seeds to be sold to farmers. There was the assertion that this decision will increase the risk of organic food being contaminated by genetically engineered materials. This has prompted a proposal to guard organic foods from genetically engineered seeds. Some people argued that genetically engineered foods do not co-exist with organic foods because these two methods of farming do not relate. However, Crossfield has argued that genetically engineered foods contaminate organic foods through transfer of genetic materials via pollen grains, which in turn threaten organic foods. Maffei, Fernanda, and Catanozi, Mortatti. Microbiological Quality of Organic and Conventional Vegetables Sold in Brazil. Food control, Vol.29, 1, 226-230, Jan 2013. Print. People have ventured in producing organic foods because they believe that they are more nutritious and healthy than genetically engineered foods. However, organic foods may be vulnerable to microbiological corruption because of the application of organic fertilizers that are believed to cause pathogenic bacteria. A study carried out in Brazil showed that both organic and conventional crops had microbiological bacteria. Therefore, in order to attain healthy food, people need to be sensitized to use good farming methods and ensure that the food they consume is clean. This will in turn ensure food safety and quality. Dena, Bravata and Stave, Christopher. Are Organic food safer or Healthier than Conventional Alternatives? Annals of internal medicine. Vol. 157, 5, 348-366, 2012. Print. It is unclear to determine the health benefits of organic foods because they are believed to contain microbial bacteria that is found in organic fertilizer. These bacteria are risky to the health of a person. However, organic foods are not more contaminated like conventional foods because the use of synthetic fertilizers in conventional foods is very risky in that these fertilizers contain dangerous chemicals like phosphorous that affect human metabolism. As Dena et al (349) argue, organic foods are safer and healthier than conventional foods since they contain more nutrients and are chemical free. Further, Dena et al (351) states that eating organic foods may decrease exposure to herbicide residues and pesticides resistant bacteria. Crinnion, Walter. Organic Foods Contain Higher Levels of Certain Nutrients, Lower Levels of Pesticides, and may Provide Health Benefit for the Consumer. Alternative Medicine Review. Vol. 15, 1, 4-12, 2010. Print. Crinnion (6) argues that organic food industries thrive because of the perception that organic foods are safer and healthier than conventional foods. Consumers believe that organic foods have fewer poisonous chemicals and higher nutritional value. The levels of nutrients in organic foods vary because of the difference in soil ph and cover. Studies have shown that despite the difference in nutrients, organic foods are rich in iron, vitamin c, and magnesium than conventional foods of similar type. Further, organic foods offer high levels of a number of significant antioxidants’ phytochemicals. More so, they have lower level of pesticides thus offering more health benefits than conventional foods. Read More