What makes organic food more expensive and is it worth it?

Question

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Answer 1

Organic foods are grown without pesticides, chemical fertilizers and genetically altered seeds. It takes a few years to prepare soil to produce quality organic crops and get certified organic. This is were most of the extra cost comes from plus natural composting, natural pesticides and applying them is more expensive than chemical fertilizers

If you are very sensitive, as in allergic, they are a godsend. Nutritionally, there is little difference. Leaf vegetables that are organically grow are the best value (more surface area to retain pesticides). Hydroponic vegetables that use chemical fertilizers and no pesticide are similarly hypoallergenic.

So yes, they can be worth the money.

Answer 2

I think everyone hit the nail on the head in terms of cost; labor/maintenance, fuel/shipping, supply and demand dictate cost. Is it worth it is all a matter of preference.

According to The Food Standards Agency in the UK: "the current scientific evidence does not show that organic food is any safer or more nutritious than conventionally produced food." Both the French and Swiss Food Agencies agree. In fact, most North Americans would be surprised that there is actually no official certification process for ‘organic’ foods - although several companies have come together to create their own standards - so what one person may see as organic, another would see as contaminated. The actual definition of 'organic' is /subjective/ depending who you talk to.

That doesn't exactly make me confident.

Ultimately the best tasting, healthiest produce is the fresh stuff. Produced on an regular or ‘organic’ farm, fresh is the only way to guarantee you actually are getting the all the fiber that should be in that apple, the anti-oxidants from that blueberry. It the produce takes a week to get from the field to the store, then a few days to get into your belly, it doesn't really matter if it was 'organic' or not, the nutritional value and taste would not be on par. Now, what about times were local isn’t available? Anyone made frozen/canned ‘organic’ vegetables yet?

Now, we are all striving to be more health conscious, live longer. We are already drinking more bottled water - despite most 'natural sources' being municipal - nixing the pesticides in our food, but are people actually going the distance to exercise? What's the point in eating healthy if you're not getting any physical activity? On the same note, so we don't eat chemicals, does that mean we will stop using most medications? Seems silly to eat organic food yet still use the pill, or viagra, or insulin. You're still pumping your body with chemicals; they are just not coming from the food. Now, medications, those can be justified. But can ‘organic’ food?

Thus it comes to inclination. What you would want and what I would want are not the same, nor will they ever be.

I’ll be sticking with my local produce in the meantime.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

Organic food is more expensive because it has less to no chemicals included in the food. This makes it a lot more expensive to make because when they don't use the chemicals, there is more potential for things like pests & diseases. Some of people live on all-organic diets, but most people cannot do this simply to the fact that when you add it all up, it is very, very, much more expensive. Is it worth it? I dont know. There are no statistics to prove this except for the employees of places like Whole Foods & Trader Joe's preaching that they do. Like the other person said, "Figures don't lie. Liars do." I guess some organic food can be a little bit beneficial, but I really don't know if it's enough to make a difference....a majority of people buy the non-organic products, though.

Answer 5

I really don't want to go into lurid detail about this subject so I will just relay some things that I know.
Organic food is more expensive because it simply does cost more- especially the labor aspect. An organic farm can easily use three to four times more labor than a conventional farm.
One aspect to mention here is that the chemicals used on a conventional farm are not cheap, however they do induce growth because of the high nitrogen- conventional farmers must apply fertilizer that is high in nitrogen, but very water soluble so the nitrogen must be applied more often (by a tractor, an implement, and only one operator) and this causes the food to get bigger faster, while providing a diluted nutrient content.
As far as I know, there are no proven studies showing that chemicals on food have an adverse affect on humans. I do know that some foods absorb more of the chemicals than others- peaches, grapes (& raisins), peanuts... I am sure there are more, but these are three things I try to avoid unless they are organic.
So, back to the organics- labor is costly especially due to hand-weeding.
There are numerous old and new studies proving that organic foods have a higher nutritional content than conventionally grown foods.
Organic food is also better for the earth, but I often question the capability of organics going large scale, consuming the conventional farm. I say buy local and fresh because that is best for you and your neighborhood farmer. I feel organic is worth it and I do hope that organic farming stays small in order to preserve it's integrity. I buy organic or local almost exclusively, but I spend a big chunk of money this way.

Answer 6

Yes, I buy organic. I don't want to knowingly put chemicals and pesticides in my body or my children's.
I also seen on TV that a lot of the corner fruit and vegetable stands are better for you, because a lot of the small farmers use organic practices. It's just not labeled organic because it hasn't been certified.
Then again, they also said that pesticides from neighboring farmers could blow onto the supposedly organic farmers garden. But I'm sure it's still mostly organic, I would rather have a few pesticides on my food than a ton.
Have you heard someone say," Girls didn't have boobs like that when we were in school". Because they didn't have all these hormones and crap back then to make the cows grow and produce milk faster, it was pure.
Personally I'm going to try and grow my own organic garden next summer.

Answer 7

Great question. I have always prioritized buying certain organic products,such as milk, especially in the winter when the cost of organic food is much higher than conventional. We also have a great list on Care2 of thetop 10 foods that are the most important to eat organically, which shows you when you should splurge and when it might be less urgent. But two new studies just came out that make me want to recommend that we all spend the extra money to eat organic food whenever we can. One shows that organic food is better for the heart, and the other that women who used pesticides in their early pregnancies had a higher rate of gestational diabetes, suggesting that pesticides affect glucose metabolism. And, of course, organic farms are far and away the most caretaking of the environment--everything we can do to support them the better.
Read this article and others like it at Care2.com. Its where I go to find all the info I need on green living.
Peace
GG

Answer 8

PLEASE read Kevin Trudea's book Natural Cures and learn about organics. There are so many benefits to going organic I could write my own book about it. Also read about The Gerson Institute!! #1 is that our bodies filter out the "things" that are not meant to be in it. "Things" that make us sick and cause disease (cancer being at the top of the list). Organic food means no pesticides, fertilizers (anything not natural). The less pollution our bodies have to process the better. We have to heal the damage we have done to our bodies. I've been on organics for two years now - after my mother was diagnosed with stage IV carcinosarcoma cancer. She was given 6 months to live. We changed our diets and now she is going strong. I have not been sick once in those two years! No colds, flus, viruses, bacterial infections....NOTHING. Meanwhile my brother's family who stayed eating the same poor processed diet are sick every other week! Before going organic I was sick quite often. Hmmm...isn't paying a little extra for organic food worth your health? I don't have a lot of money but what extra I have is spent buying only organic. You can find some really good deals at supermarkets like Hannaford's.

Answer 9

Organic food is more expensive because it is specially grown or produced under regulated conditions. It is more expensive to produce it this way, than regularly. There are certain FDA guidelines that have to be followed. Therefore, the increase in cost from mass produced foods.

I feel they are more than worth it. I am carnivore as well as an herbivore. I find wonderful organic foods. There may not necessarily be a difference in taste, but they are tons healthier for you. No artificial ingredients, or extraneous additives, all of which can make normal foods unhealthy. They generally make a person's diet a lot healthier as well!!!

Answer 10

Yes it worth it but only if you can afford it. Poor people have to eat conventionally grown food because of cost. When it comes down to it convention has fed the world, but the world suffers from the pesticides and fungicides it pollutes with. I would if I could but on a budget of less than a thousand dollars a month and still buying a modest home leaves little to spend on luxuries as food. But I buy as little processed food accept peanut butter. I cook all my own food this way I know what exactly is in there. I do grow some my own food to offset the cost but the growing season in Minnesota was so short I moved to Texas where most people do not have an idea about conservation or environmental impact. Cow farms for miles which from 100 miles away you can smell them. This is the truth come to Amarillo and on certain evenings you can smell a barnyard from farms located in other cities. Methane gas than can be used (polluting the air) and so much fertilizer (polluting the ground water) that you could fertilize the California with. So in saying cost for organic food is more than poor people can afford, but our farms need to do more with what they produce (especially cows holding and pinching my nose).

Answer 11

As mentioned, Organic food is grown naturally, without the many chemicals and pesticides found in most normal foods.

A great reference guide to eating organically and why it is so good for you is a book called Skinny B**** by Kim Barnouin and Rory Freedman. Once you read this book you will not want to eat anything that is not organic ever again.

The benefits of eating organic are more energy, better complexion, feeling of rejuvination and a better functioning immune system. Is it worth it to pay a little bit more for all that? I think so.