Preview

The Truth about Non Organic foods

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1307 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Truth about Non Organic foods
WRIT 121-80305

February 3, 2014

The Truth about Non-Organic Foods

In today’s society, an individual can go into the grocery store to pick up some “fresh” lettuce and garnishing’s for a salad and think that they are doing something good for both them self and for the environment. This same person will likely purchase low calorie snacks, sugar free desserts, and perhaps even Splenda and then live under the misconception that they are in fact eating a “healthy” diet. Yet, within the so-called fresh salad and the other products mentioned above, are little secrets; secrets that most food sellers don’t want consumers to know. In fact, these types of products are what are commonly referred to as non-organic. Non-organic foods include chemicals and fertilizers and can be defined as deprived of living. As opposed to organic foods which are foods produced by using organic farming. Here, the word organic refers to the way the farmers grow and process these agricultural products, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy products and meat. Organic farming practices are designed to encourage soil and water conversation and reduce pollution. Farmers who grow organic produce and meat don't use conventional methods to fertilize, or to control weeds and prevent livestock disease. For example, rather than using chemical weed killers, organic farmers may conduct more sophisticated crop rotations and spread mulch to keep seeds at bay. There are, of course many supporters of nonorganic food, who argue that there is little difference between non organic and organic food. According to a recent 2012 study conducted at Harvard University, "eating organic fruits and vegetables may lower exposure to pesticides, however the amount measured from non-organic foods is still within safety limits, making it safe and still healthy for consumers to eat non organic products” (47). However, there are a growing

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Critique Paper

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In Kristen Weinacker’s essay “Safer? Tastier? More nutritious? The Dubious Merits of Organic Foods”, she makes a claim of fact that organic foods may not be more nutritional than conventionally grown foods. Weinacker does an exceptional job supporting her claim effectively with evidence by using the opinions of several experts, as well as the appeal to our physiological needs. She warrants that by mentioning the use of slick marketing techniques by organic food companies and our belief that organic farmers “bring us back to nature”, we tend to forgive statistical data and start to lean on our common sense. Throughout the essay Weinacker reiterates that most, if not all, of the research data available does not contain the statistical proof necessary to successfully warrant the claim.…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Pollan talks about most of the organic food we consume today is produced from the so-called “industrial organic” farms, which belong firmly to the industrial food chain rather than the ideal organic food chain. First, the reality of “organic food” chain is largely inaccurately reported.…

    • 301 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    References: Aktar, M. W. (2014). ORGANIC FOOD AND PESTICIDES: MYTH AND REALITY. Journal of Information, Intelligence and Knowledge, 6(3), 273-294. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1626844614?accountid=458…

    • 1240 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    I gained different knowledge about organic food along with the benefits of it. Non-organic food contain pesticides and plenty of food additives. 100% Organic is made with none of that it’s made all naturally so for example its made with no food supplements and no pesticides. In the food and recipes feature stories section John Reganold, a professor of soil science at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, states, "If you 're talking about pesticides, the evidence is pretty conclusive. Your chances of getting pesticide residues are much less with organic food.” For example in a regular industrial farm where they plant crops they use pesticides along with food supplements for it to grow faster and for it to taste better. Now in organic farming where they grow crops or raise animals there are no pesticides or food supplements used in to make them grow faster, it was…

    • 1755 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    1. The advantages of organic food, you are what you eat: An article about organic food and diseases in non-organic food…

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Grocery shopping in today’s society can be extremely confusing for most consumers; I have often pondered over which product to feed my children and if organic food is actually better than processed food. Although I have heard many people say organic food is a gimmick to get more of today’s consumer’s money, or that they just can not afford it; I argue that eating organic is a more healthy choice. “Organic food consumption is one of the fastest growing segments of U.S. domestic foodstuffs” (Crinnion 4).…

    • 1351 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Recently, I became a member of a CSA—community supported agriculture—and am receiving a box of organic produce delivered to my doorstep every week. My reasons for doing this are as follows: I want to eat locally grown produce; I want to reduce the use of chemicals in the food I eat; I want to reduce my carbon footprint by buying local, non-corporate food; I prefer to support local farmers, especially in a down economy; by subscribing rather than just buying at a farmer’s market, I’m showing my commitment to organic farming; and I will eat a broader range of vegetables as a result. By doing this, I am hoping to improve my own health while also, I hope, reducing the environmental costs of corporate farming. Michael Pollan’s “Behind the Organic-Industrial…

    • 720 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Food Police Summary

    • 2195 Words
    • 9 Pages

    They aren’t better tasting, nor do they have anymore health benefits than nonorganics. Organics do tend to use fewer pesticides, though they do still use them, and pesticide related health risks are not nearly as imperative when compared to other problems out there. Depending on yields and how much farmers are using conservation tillage practices that traditional farmers are already using, there is a chance that organic farming could possibly be somewhat better for the environment. We should all keep one thing in mind: organic foods just cost more. The absurdity here is that the food police have made food into a “status-seeking game” while at the same time wondering why exactly the poor don’t consume enough nutritious food. Even teachers at our kids’ schools find places in their schedules to bring up eating organic, buying local, and recycling. New York Times asked one mother about her child’s schools’ push to “go green” and she said that, “the social pressure her children felt regarding recyclable products was palpable.” She had caught her child’s teacher’s attention when she chose to use plastic bags inside of a lunchbox. She said, “That’s when the kids have meltdowns, because they don’t want to be shamed at school.” This type of “status-seeking” consumerism occurs when we purchase things just to better our reputations. Instead of avoiding this type of attitude, the food police encourage it (Lusk, The Food…

    • 2195 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    To the average consumer, eating has now developed into well beyond an agricultural act, declares Wendell Berry. Apparent in the audience of his lectures on the decline of farming, American citizens are unable to recognize the existence of food beyond the food industry—the world of fake, processed food. Ask any individual from where their food comes and they will answer, “the grocery store.” Stirring Berry to anger, he exclaims that food begins with life, plant and animal; if food begins in the laboratory, the results more accurately categorize as experiments rather than food. Michael Pollan strongly supports this claim by stating, “what reductive science can manage to perceive well enough to isolate and study is subject to change, and that we have a tendency to assume that what we can see is all there is to see” (p. 11). What this means is that food plastered with health claims can only assure the consumer their soon-to-be purchase has been on…

    • 534 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “The Politics of Organic Farming: Populists, Evangelicals, and the Agriculture of the Middle”, author Laura Sayre begins by speaking about how the Obama administration initially acted enthusiastically towards the sustainable food movement, which was a PR gesture, when really, they were silently allowing the agendas of agribusiness giants to move forward (38). Sayre quotes journalist Barry Estabrook who calls this “the Obama administration’s schizophrenic approach to agriculture policy” (38). She then delves into how most of the public media in the U.S. assumes that there is “something inherently left-leaning” about sustainable food, even though recent studies have found that consumption of organic foods “cuts across class and ethnic boundaries”…

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Five years later, the industry of synthetic and processed food skyrocketed, sending organic and small stores out of business. As a result, “the counterculture promoted natural foods organically grown” (Pollan 2). Big Food has been working to develop a healthy organic cuisine…

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    in defense of food

    • 1844 Words
    • 5 Pages

    McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Chipotle, Subway, Jimmy Johns, Burger King, Chick-fil-A, Popeye’s and countless other food places are visited by thousands of Americans each day. Sadly, because of the convenience and price I am one of these people who give in to the endless fast food options we have in America today. Grocery shopping for most Americans is buying food that is the “best bargain,” or something you can get your moneys worth for. Quantity over quality is the mindset that a lot of people have in today’s society and how can you blame them? With rising costs in every aspect of living, a lot of people cannot afford to purchase organic, better quality food.…

    • 1844 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sociology Paper #1

    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Coincidentally, before my second viewing of Food INC in our first sociology class, I was in a renaissance of eating healthier. I wanted to lose some weight and maintain that healthier weight not by using a temporary diet but by changing my lifestyle. I decided to cut out processed foods as much as possible. I was also interested in the organic option over the conventional options at a Safeway for example so I did my research on organic food. While there isn’t hard conclusive evidence that non-organic food is surely harmful to the body, there were some interesting correlations with non-organic food and negative effects. Upon further research and article reading, I read that some foods should definitely be eaten organic versus food that doesn’t have to be eaten organically. For example fruits or vegetables with a thick covering like pineapple will be less affected by pesticides because the hard “shell” prevents the pesticides from getting to the…

    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ian Hacking states that “Social changes creates new categories of people.” (Hacking 1999, 1). Social change has occurred within the last 50 years in America’s society when it comes to healthy living. Especially within the last decade, America has been making a push for organic food. Organic meat, organic vegetables, organic fruit, all organic ingredients.…

    • 703 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are some alarming differences between organic and processed foods especially when considering agriculture. “Organic” means that a food is grown without the aid of pesticides or fertilizers. Organic farmers use manure and nothing else to grow fruits, vegetables, and grains. It says in The Organic Myth that this can lead to some bad cases of E. Coli that wouldn’t be present in foods grown with pesticides since there are all sorts of bacteria in the manure (2004). The reverse is that without all those chemicals being sprayed on crops, you tend to have less pollution. Rodale states, “Growing foods organically prevents thousands of toxic chemicals from entering the environment and poisoning…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays