Please read the two links foundbelow relating to organic foods. While the popula

Question

Please read the two links foundbelow relating to organic foods. While the popularity of organic foods continue to rise, there are those who question this trend as an expensive, unnecessary fad. Stating at least two facts from the articles, give an opinion on the organic movement. Potential topics: Is it beneficial? Overly costly? Are consumers well informed as to what organic means? Is more regulation needed? (250words)

Organics Market: https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/natural-resources-environment/organic-agriculture/organic-market-overview.aspx

Organics and Health: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/art-20043880

Explanation / Answer

The organic movement is based on the core believes that growing organic food is better for the environment, nutritionally beneficial and, according to the layman, free from harmful pesticides and insecticides. However in practice, none of the above hold ground, and instead, consumers are forced to pay a price premium which is identical, if not worse, to a conventionally grown counterpart, while being indoctrinated against scientific practices like genetic modifications.

Let's first consider the environment-friendliness of these products.While composting is a good way to produce fertilizer, on a large scale, the practice produces a very large amount of carbon dioxide. The claim that no chemical fertilizers are used is dubious, as technically, every compound can be termed to be a chemical at whim.

While organic products do not use any aritificial herbicides, perticides or insecticides, the naturally obtained alternatives are times way more toxic than what is used in conventional farming. For example, copper sulphate is used as a herbicide in organic farming, which has an LD50 of 30 mg/kg in rats, compared to glyphosate used in conventional farming, which has an LD50 of 4320 mg/kg. This means that 30 mg/kg of copper sulphate is lethal to most rats, while a much higher concentration of glyphosate will be required to be lethal.

The nutritional content of both organic and conventionally grown products are identical and this factor is more dependent on the soil quality.

What we derive from the above is while regulation and public inclusion is necessary for farming, organic farming is not the way to go with it. Conventional farming has come a long way since the days of rudimentary, chemically processed fertilizers and is one of the most efficient and eco-friendly ways to grow food, and the only recommended way to grow food on a large scale.

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