Commodity: Organic Farming as an Alternative Food Source - Essay Example

? Commodity: Meat Contents I.Introduction 3 II.From being a carnivore to herbivore: what could have started vegetarianism, organic and environmentalism movement. 4 III.Organic food vis-a-vis GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) foods 5 IV.The aggravated condition of meat and the birth of fast food 6 V.The politics of fastfood, lowered costs and risks to health and environment 6 VI.Is organic farming a viable and sustainable as an alternative food to meat? 7 VII.Conclusion 8 Bibliography 9 I. Introduction Food is is the most basic need of all human beings because we have to eat first inorder to live. Early civilzations were even formed based on how the need for food can be addressed. From being nomadic, early societies eventually learned to grow crops and raise poultry and stock which prompted them to settle and build communities. Early agriculture farming was also vulnerable to famine where food shortage sent peasants scrambling for their little yield that caused riot. The stability of early rulers’ governments were also dependent on how they were able to provide food among their subjects. The slightest “disturbances” in food supply did not only caused riots and instability but also threatened the very rule of a leader. In effect, food was not only a means of subsistence but also a political tool in maintaining stability in society especially in feudal economic system where subjects were sensitive not only with the availability of food but its price as well. The importance of food was not only pronounced during the Medieval era but also during pre-industrial England where there was an increased incidence of riots caused by the “disturbance “in food prices. When the economy of England shifted from feudal system to market system or laissez-faire with its economy transformed into industrialization, food subsidies through “just prices” were also removed and caused riots among the peasants in England. During this phase, the riots were not caused by the contraction of food supply but rather of the people’s feeling of injustice (Thompson 1971). The riots and conflicts caused by rising food prices only ebbed when the peasants finally adjusted to the new economic system and evolved into a working class. Riots and conflicts over food however did not totally vanished with industrialization. Although its frequency significantly decreased in today’s modern society, riots and conflicts over food still happen especially in developing countries. Social scientists such as Seddon and Walton observed that the nature of these riots can still be likened to the riots that frequented England’s society during the pre-industrial age as the cause of the conflicts were also about high prices of food due to the removal of state subsidies. The root cause of developing country’s riots however is different compared to pre-industrial England where food prices increased as the market reflected its “real” price when the economy shifted into a laissez-faire from a feudal system. Whereas in the case of the developing country’s, the riots were caused by the removal of state subsidies when government’s have to impose draconian measures to comply with the conditionalities of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international banks in the repayment of their loans (1994). Just like any enterprise, the industry of agriculture also evolved and modernized. Old issues such as rising food shortage and high prices may have been addressed with the usage of new agricultural method such as factorisation of agriculture and introduction of GMOs , but still this new order in farming has spawned issues that caused conflicts among its various stakeholders. The method in itself of mechanised farming and employment of GMO substitutes has spawned the issue of food quality and safety that raised the consideration of alternatives such as going “back to the land” and organic farming. Whether such alternative is viable or not, this issue will be tackled in this paper along with the discussion of the new development in the study of organic farming as an alternative food source. II. From being a carnivore to herbivore: what could have started vegetarianism, organic and environmentalism movement. Madeleine theorized that perhaps the origin of shifting food preference from meat to vegetables can be traced back beyond the fear of hunger as societies had always been on guard to protect themselves from the onslaught of unhealthy foods. Concerns from meat related diseases such as mad cow disease, salmonella virus infliction and other meat related diseases prompted societies to look for other food alternatives such as vegetables (2006). For Stuart in his book “The Bloodless Revolution: Radical Vegetarians and the Discovery of India”, the first keen observation on the health implication of vegetables and fruits over meat can be gleaned from the observation of the father of Scientific Method himself, Sir Francis Bacon. He noticed that a diet of fruits and vegetables were actually good for his health and thus, acted accordingly (2007). Lockertz on the other hand provided the timeline of the beginning of vegetarianism and organic farming by stating that organic farming begun in the 1920s as a protest against the industrialisation of agriculture (2007). Stuart also contend that the early links of organic farming movement can be traced back to radical Left as well as the radical right. He traced the timeline of today’s major advocacy of sustainable agricultural policy to the Soil Association which was founded in UK in 1946 (2007). Today, organic farming products are already a major business with major companies already involved in organic agribusiness such Heinz, Gerber, Archer Daniels (Miller 2004). The market in itself can no longer be classified as a niche market catering only to small number of customers as it is already a 14 billion dollar industry with major retail outlets involved in offering the produce to mainstream market (Clark 2007). It is also no longer considered as a small community based family based farming confined only to the consumption of small population but is already mainstream. It is no longer a fad as previously criticised to be just observed by eccentric few but is already widespread. According to Blythman, organic produces is a safe food alternative in world where food quality and safety is in peril (2005). III. Organic food vis-a-vis GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) foods Organic foods are those produces that were grown and raised without the aid of artificial chemicals. Meats, vegetables, fruits, poultry and dairy products that are grown and raised with the organic method is absent of any herbicides, pesticedes, antibiotics, chemicals or growth hormones. These foods however has to be inspected by the government regulatory bodies from where they are grown and raised before it can be certified as organic. This traditional method of growing and raising crops and meat has been challenged by the introduction of GMOs. in the case of meat, the traditional method of grazing cows in the fields has been altered with feeding them with genetically modified feedlots which are corn. GMOs are gaining wide acceptance because of its supposed efficiency either in producing crops that could either be directly consumed by humans or as a feedlot to cows and chickens. As a result, organic foods were deemed to be more expensive compared to GMO foods and this argument has been used to advance GMO foods over traditional farming. IV. The aggravated condition of meat and the birth of fast food Feeding animals with GMO feedlots however has its drawback. Reports of poor quality of GMO fed meat and bacteria infestation such as E.coli are hard to ignore because it poses a real risk to health. in addition, the greater availability of meat in itself which is saturated in fats is known to have caused the recent epedemic of obesity. This greater availability of meat was preciptiated by the industrialisation of meat production brought by the birth of of fast foods chains. The market exerted tremendous pressure on the industry of fast foods to lower its price for it to become competitive against the traditional restaurants (Food Inc 2008). This brought the idea of factorisation of the production of meat where cows and poultries are fed with feedlots which is composed of genetically modified corns and antibiotics. This new method of feeding cows with feedlot has produced a bacteria strain E. coli that is acid resistant. This bacteria is a deadlier E. coli because the bacteria evolves to a strain called "E. coli 0157:h7". This variety of E. coli 0157:h7 is so deadly that it can kill a child by only eating three hamburgers (Food Inc. 2008). This concern over health and food safety tilted the fulcrum in favor to organic meat that added to the increasing preference towards organic produce. V. The politics of fastfood, lowered costs and risks to health and environment The introduction of fast food chains may have addressed the issue of food’s high prices that resulted in riots in the earlier days. The factorisation of food production, mechanisation of food preparation and efficient supply chain has significantly lowered its cost that it is now more affordable to buy a fastfood combo meal than partaking a regular meal. Government subsidy of genetically modified corn that is used as a feedlot has also helped to lower the costs of meat (Heffern 2009). The factorisation of food production however has brought the expected health risks associated with meat consumption resulting in obesity that has already affected 61 % of American adults (NCCDPHP 2005). Diabetes, most of which is type 2 also roseto 50% between 1990 and 2000 (Mokdad et al 2001). In America, statistics showed that one out of three children or 35% of all children that was born from 2000 will contract diabetes. The figure is worst with the minorities because it is expected that half of all the children born from 2000 will have diabetes (Food Inc 2008). The health risk associated with consuming fast foods became prevalent among children that advertising junk foods has to be banned in the United Kingdom to avoid similar fate from happening in the country (BBC News 2007). Industrial meat production also causes so much strain to the environment. Overall, the industry consumes petroleum fuel of about 40,000 gallons per year making the food more unhealthy considering the carbon dioxide it emits into the atmosphere. VI. Is organic farming a viable and sustainable as an alternative food to meat? It is already a given that vegetables are a healthier food source compared to meat. The ideal food pyramid requires more consumption of vegetables and fruits and only a little portion of meat. The industrialisation of meat production however has reversed this pyramid as it now seemed cheaper to buy a burger than a carrot (Food Inc 2008). This argument has been used by meat producers and GMO proponents against organic farming inorder to beat organic products in the market. Recent scientific development however reported it is no longer the case. In a study sponsored by UN, it showed that agroecological methods are better than the use of chemical fertilizers in increasing food output in the long run(Huff 2011). As a food alternative to meat and GMO crops, organic crops has lower input costs because it does not require the use of expensive chemicals to repel pest and insects nor antibiotics in the case of cows and poultries. The chemical fertilizers which render the soil sterile are also not needed in organic farming because it can be replaced by composting manure and leguminous crop rotation in addition to worm farming. This creates a living and fertile soil that re-mineralizes at a minimal costs to the grower. It is interesting to note that United Nations’s recent report about GMO and organic farming concluded that small that small-scale eco-farming reliant on natural growing methods works better than GMO and other pesticide-based agricultural systems at producing more and better food -- and if implemented on a wider scope, small-scale farming could double the world's food production capacity within ten years. (Huff 2011). It only meant that industrialized meat production and GMOs are not the best option in providing large scale quantity of food as it claims to be. The study conducted by UN showed that crops yield 80 percent increase in 57 developing countries with a 116 percent increase in all their African projects. The output of the organic farms which was subject of the study was compared with the output of GMOs and it reported that by utilizing nature’s own balance, it can evade pests and improve harvests. Its output outperforms than those seeds sold by GMO companies such as Monsanto that requires heavy chemical applications to grow (Huff). This study was significant in determining the viability of organic food as an alternative because it validated through scientific study the old notion that organic produce can become prolific through diversification, crop rotation and usage of the environment to control pests. VII. Conclusion The conflict that arises from the issue of food sourcing may no longer be as intense as what E.P. Thompson has depicted in his book “The Moral Economy of the English Crowd in the Eighteenth Century” where the peasants resorted to riot as a protest of rising price of food (2007). The new implements in food production has managed to relatively lower the price of food that riots due to high prices of food of Thompson’s description and magnitude has already diminished (except in few exceptions in developing world where governments has to imposed draconian measures that increases food prices as described by Seddon et al). Food now is relatively abundant and affordable that the issue that confronts food production is not much about its price and availability but rather, the quality and safety of food. This applies specifically to the greater availability of meat which has tilted the food pyramid to its favor due to its lowered cost and greater availability through fast food chains. The increased production and consumption of meat however posed risk to health it being blamed as one of the main culprits of the epidemic of obesity. The alternative to industrialised agriculture has always been the organic food movement. It is the agrarian idea of small-scale food production, community engagement, and ecological responsibility (Johnston et al 2009:509). Though this has already been generally accepted as a better alternative source of food, it is still being criticised as inefficient. Its price is generally prohibitive albeit its increasing acceptance from the general public hence the continued proliferation and patronage of meat and genetically modified foods. Result of the recent study conducted by UN however is encouraging. It validated through scientific study that organic farming can be a viable source of food. It showed that with the proper implementation of organic farming, its produce is in fact greater than that of GMO raised crops. Its production can be doubled in ten years (Huff 2011) and given the potential of the quantity of its production, its price will no longer be prohibitive as what it is today (production efficiency leads to lesser cost). If this will be implemented on a larger scale as suggested by the study of UN, we may just be able to achieve moral economy in food sourcing as food will no longer be scarce and expensive nor do we have to worry about quality and safety. Bibliography 1. BBC News (July 18, 2007) Fast food brands hit kids onlinehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6905072.stm 2. Blythman, J. (2005). The Trouble with Organics. Academic Search Complete, 35(6), 24-25. 3. Clark, Georgia (June 2007). The New Horizon for Organics: A Market Outlook of the Effects of Wal-Mart on the International Organic Market". 4. Conford, Philip (2001). The origins of the organic movement. Edinburgh: Floris Books 5. Ferrieres, Madeleine and  Gladding, Jody (2006). Sacred cow, mad cow: a history of food fears, New York: Columbia University Press. 6. Heffern, Rich (2009). National Catholic Reporter. 46 (1):14 7. Huff, Ethan A. (April 1, 2011). Eco-farming outperforms GMOs at improving crop yields and growing more food, says report. NaturalNews.com. online. Available at http://www.naturalnews.com/031917_eco-farming_crop_yields.html. [Accessed on January 14, 2012]. 8. Johnston, Josee; Biro, Andrew; MacKendrick, Norah. Antipode (2009). Lost in the Supermarket: The Corporate-Organic Foodscape and the Struggle for Food Democracy , 41(3):509 9. Lockeretz, E. (2007). Organic Farming: An International History. Wallingford: CABI.  10. Miller (2004). The Organic Myth. National Review, 56(2): Issue 2, p35-37, 11. Mokdad AH, Bowman B, Ford E, Vinicor F, Marks J, Koplan J. (2001) The Continuing Epidemics of Obesity and Diabetes in the United States. Journal of the American Medical Association 286(10):1195 12. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2005). Obesity and Overweight—A Public Health Epidemic 13. Stuart, Tristram (2007). The Bloodless Revolution: A Cultural History of Vegetarianism from 1600 to Modern Times, Harper Collins. 14. Thompson, E.P. The Moral Economy of the English Crowd in the Eighteenth Century (1971). Past and Present, No. 50: 76-136.  15. Walton, John, and David Seddon (2004). Free Markets and Food Riots: The Politics of Global Adjustment. Oxford, England, and Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell, 1994. . Read More