Organic Food Consumption in the United States of America - Essay Example

The paper "Organic Food Consumption in the United States of America" is an excellent example of an essay on family and consumer science. Organic food consumption has risen especially in the United s of America. Based on the survey by DeCostole. It was established that about almost 70% of Americans preferred buying organic food. About twelve years ago, there were no certified Organic foods or beverages in the United States of America. However, in the year 2010, organic foods and beverages made a whooping $26.7billion. Within a span of three years and the earnings rose to approximately $52billion.

  People are separated from their food origin going for genetically modified foods. This has caused serious health problems due to the small traces of chemical components that people consume from such food products. Due to the constant health complaints from the Thai republican, it was forced to change its approach towards enhancing food safety. With the increase in food quality demand, organic foods tend to find a market, hence reintroducing it to the food market. According to the survey carried out over the last five years, organic food will soon dominate the world market.

This is because people are beginning to doubt the value of genetically modified food products.For centuries farmers used organic farming methods in the United States to produce food. However, farming techniques took a turn in 1920 when farmers started using chemicals to control a pest that attacked the crops. The effects of using the chemicals came to the fore in the middle of the 20th century. People who had consumed the food that contained chemicals started falling ill. Other health hazards came up as a result of eating food which contained chemicals (Trienekens & Omta 171).

At this point, the demand for organic food started diminishing gradually because of health hazards. Due to the consumption of food containing chemicals, more Americans preferred organic food. In modern America, the preference for organic food has been motivated by a variety of factors such as attitude and knowledge. Most of the American population is of the opinion that organic food is pure because it does not contain any chemicals. Out of fear of suffering from cancer associated with taking food laced with chemicals, many Americans have turned to organic food.

However, the connection between food consumption and cancer has not been established. Most of the Americans who prefer taking of organic food are of the opinion that organic foods are more nutritious (Klopčič et. al 165). However, there is no concrete evidence that can support the notion that organic foods are more nutritious. There are some Americans who are of the opinion that organic food tastes much better than genetically modified foods.Many Americans are aware of the importance of healthy living.

In that aspect, the majority is very careful about the type of food that they eat. Additives, preservatives, and food coloring have been associated with some health problems such as obesity. The U.S is reported to have the highest cases of obesity. Vigorous campaigning by the green movement has also played a vital role in ensuring that organic food remains a preferred choice of most of the Americans. Even though some of the opinions that the American people have regarding the benefits of organic foods cannot be scientifically proven, they have helped in popularizing organic foods.

The research conducted in the United States in regards to price has established that Organic foods cost up to about three times more than the foods produced by other conventional ways. In any business the higher the demand the higher the cost, thus the high prices of the organic food can be attributed to the high demand. The attitude associated with the nutritional value as well as the other positive values has also played a role in the high prices. Whereas most Americans prefer organic foods there are some social implications associated with organic foods.

Each and every community all over the world has a population who are poor; in that aspect, the very high prices of the organic food mean that some people who are poor will not be able to afford them (MacFie 78). This means that the wealthy will only be the ones afford the products thus creating disparities. Conventional foods have lost their market as few people are buying them. This has caused a negative impact on the outlets selling such products, as a result, many people who were once employed by such outlets have been rendered jobless.

As a result of the various opinion that people have regarding organic food, some of which have not been proved had led many people to believe that all other conventional foods are bad. However, there is no concrete evidence that has been submitted to back up the claim.Some of the positive aspects such as nutritional value and cancer reduction has caused a lot of Americans to believe that conventional foods are responsible for causing cancer. This notion that can not be backed by any evidence has rooted itself deeply among many Americans that convincing them that cancer can through other ways is almost impossible.

Consumption of organic food had been on the rise worldwide and more so in the United States of America. Even though dome of the reasons that have made a lot of people to prefer organic foods are not valid the figures keep on rising each and every year.