Organic food: is it really worth-buying - Essay Example

? Organic food: is it really worth-buying? Introduction We are what we eat. The supporters of healthy way of life and those people, who just want to live better and be healthier, know the phrase “organic food” pretty well. However, this kind of food is not innovative; it actually represents the kind of food we lost because of technogenic civilization. This food is ecologically pure and maybe a century ago all the food was organic as it was created without mineral fertilizers, hormonal additive, pesticides and genetic engineering. Due to the advertising “organic” food today is understood as something “natural”, “useful”, “safe” in contrast to “non-natural” harmful and dangerous food produced by conventional methods. The advantages of organic food represent controversial issue. Now many people try to answer the question if it is really healthier. The issue became so relevant first of all because now organic food can be met not only in specializing shops but also can be found in supermarkets on the shelves with traditional food. The price on organic food is much higher, thus, the given paper will try to answer the question if this food can really make people healthier and if we really should spend much money on it. Organic food is helpful Modern organic food is produced without chemical methods as well as without synthetic and genetically modified ingredients. It is forbidden to use chemical fertilizers and weed-killers in organic agriculture. Only organic fertilizers such as compost and manure are applied and only organic methods are used to struggle with pests. For example, the plants of different kinds are grown on the one piece of ground making it difficult for pests to find their favorite “dish”. The natural fertility of soil as well as the immunity of plants is saved, thus plants are able to resist pests naturally. Organically pure vegetables and fruits usually do not have attractive look, but they are tastier and more nutritious than those produced traditionally. They contain more vitamins, minerals, nutritious and biologically active substances. Certainly, due to the efforts spent on cultivation and small productivity, ecologically pure food is much more expensive than conventional, the price for it in the supermarkets is usually too times higher. For many countries the high price is connected with transportation if the most part of the food is brought from other states. Thus, the question arises if we really should pay a big money for the pleasure to eat a “pure” food, if we live, for example, in polluted megalopolis or factory city (Canavari, 2007). The majority of important nutritious substances humans get from food, vegetative and animal. Food structure is determined by the conditions, which it was produced in. If potatoes was grown with the use of chemical fertilizers and chicken we eat was produced with the help of special hormones for fast grow, this food can only damage human’s organism (Hond, 2003). In order to extend the term of storing, to improve the look and to increase the income food producers started and keep using more and more strong chemicals for growth stimulation, antibiotics for long storage and genetic engineering for producing food in unnatural conditions. However, non-official medical investigations in some European countries showed that with the beginning of intensive use of chemicals the cases of such diseases as cancer, diabetes, arthritis etc. increased. Really, applied chemicals and other substances, which human organism gets with food, destroy its immunity. And what results can we receive if to add to harmful effect of chemicals the influence of polluted air and sedentary life? If we can’t influence our ecological conditions effectively, it is still possible for us not to consume harmful food and make a right choice. This is the answer to the question if we should spend money for organic food. More and more people vote for ecologically pure food, the majority of them are higher-educated people from big cities. People who consume organic food want to be healthier. According to Marion Nestle, "if you can afford them, buy them. It really is a personal choice but how can anyone think substances, such as pesticides, capable of killing insects, can be good for you?" (Zelman, 2012). Contra argument Notwithstanding that analysis shows that organic food is worth-buying, some people have opposite opinion. Keecha Harris, an American expert, states: "there is no evidence that organic foods are superior over traditional foods" (Zelman, 2012). According to Harris, healthy food is first of all the food that is produced in your own region as it is not good if the food is brought from other states. Transportation is not good for food, because if the food is transported we can be sure that it contains chemicals, otherwise it would become spoiled during the transportation: "they may be organic, but the ... environmental footprint includes lots of petrochemicals used in transportation, whereas if you buy produce from your local farmers market, it may not be organic but it is farm-fresh and less impactful on the environment" (Zelman, 2012). The argument is rather convincing and worth-considering if we think about buying “pure” food that was transported from other countries. Certainly, we can’t call this food “organic” as some principles of organic food production should be violated in order to transport it. Many experts doubt the usefulness of organic food stating that this usefulness lies in two aspects: the first is the irrational belief that all natural is good and useful; the second is not less irrational belief that all unnatural is bad and harmful. Today people prefer to consider that potatoes grown with the use of chemical fertilizers is harmful as if it used nitrogen differently, and the nitrates in manure differ from nitrates in synthetic fertilizers. Natural toxins traditionally used as pesticides are for some reason considered to be safer than specially tested synthetic pesticides (Hamilton, 2004). Many experts consider such beliefs to be quite irrational. All the points of view have a right to exist but I consider these views to be too skeptical. Still, we can easily trace the process of production of organic and conventional food by visiting a factory and private farm. It is quite understandable that the small farm cares about every vegetable and every animal that is impossible at a big factory. The outcome is evident: the products you can produce in your own kitchen-garden are much more natural and useful than those produced at a big factory and then sold in the supermarkets. Certainly, we can’t trust the food we buy in the supermarket as we do not know exactly on what conditions this food was produced. How not to confuse If you decide to pay more but get extra health instead, this decision is right, but it is really important to be able to recognize organic food not to confuse it with conventional. First, it is important to understand the term “organic” food. We can see different labels on the food from supermarkets, but it is important to understand that, for example, the label “hormone free” does not mean that this food is organic. “The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has created an organic seal. Foods bearing it are required to be grown, harvested, and processed according to national standards that include restrictions on amounts and residues of pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics” (Zelman, 2012). Organic food is first of all a food that contains only natural components and was produced in natural environment. It should not have synthetic components, the amount of natural components should be not less than 95%. It is important not to confuse the labels “organic” and “made with organic ingredients” as the latter is not considered to be organic food and it may have at most 70% of natural ingredients. Also we should remember that some products can’t be organic, for example, organic meat can’t be received from animals which used any antibiotics. Thus, it is hardly possible to get organic meat or organic eggs (Williams, 2002). Conclusion Human health should be a top priority. In the modern world full of technical inventions we suffer from polluted air and water, food produced with the help of genetic engineering, full of hormones and pesticides. This food is produced with the purpose of getting more profit, but those people who produce it prefer not to consume as they know exactly what it is made of. Thus if we have a chance to save ourselves from consuming chemicals, we should use it. Certainly, we can’t know exactly if the food we see in supermarkets is really “pure”, especially if it was brought from other countries. Moreover, this food is too expensive for most of the families, not all the people can afford it and they will inevitably return to conventional. However, the way out still can be found. People who decided to consume organic food can produce it themselves in their own kitchen-garden. Those who do not have a one can find reliable farmers and buy food produced by them. Healthy way of life is very important and organic food can help us conduct it. References Canavari, Maurizio & Olson, Kent D., ed. (2007). Organic food: consumers' choices and farmers' opportunities; Hamilton, Denis; Crossley, Stephen (editors) (2004). Pesticide residues in food and drinking water. J. Wiley. Hond, Frank et al. (2003). Pesticides: problems, improvements, alternatives. Blackwell Science; Williams, Christine. (2002). "Nutritional quality of organic food: shades of grey or shades of green?” Proceedings of the Nutrition Society; Zelman, Kathleen M. (2012). Organic Food -- Is 'Natural' Worth the Extra Cost? WebMD Weight Loss Clinic-Exclusive Feature Read More