Should I Opt To Buying Organic?

Does the organic label on our food really matter? Is it really worth buying organic? These are questions I hear a lot from people. I believe the answer to them is it depends. It depends on where you buy your food from. Do you purchase produce from the supermarket where every option you can imagine is available, from a local co-op or small-scale store, or directly from your farmer? Knowing where your food comes from and how it was grown is important in answering these questions. The latter two options, I’d go as far as to say, it may not matter if you buy organic. The food grown at a local co-op or farmers market is probably grown by farmers who care about regenerative and organic farming practices but want to make it more easily available to the locals and may not have gone through the USDA organic certification.

Let’s compare apples to apples. An apple that the local farmer grew in his yard using natural methods like composting and natural sunlight but is not registered organic will probably still be way different in nutrient density than an apple grown by a large-scale certified organic farm that you can buy in the supermarket. The organic supermarket apple may not have been grown using pesticide sprays like Glyphosate, but it may have traveled hundreds of miles from the farm to get to the supermarket. In the grand scheme of the food supply, this is not a sustainable method. We know the local farmer’s apples grown in the area, will be healthier and ultimately more nutrient-dense, all while supporting local food growers and the local economy. Regardless, if you don’t have a farmers market or local co-op available or you can’t afford it, opting to purchase organic food at the local supermarket will do a few beneficial things. One, the food you purchase will be more nutrient-dense than non-organic and support your health by reducing your toxin intake. Two, it will help food trends continue to push for better grown foods and will eventually cause producers to meet the needs of the consumers. Voting with your dollars for food that is unadulterated is important and every dollar makes a difference. 

USDA Organic Label

In today’s society where food is genetically modified and sprayed with cancer-causing pesticides, I am thankful for the USDA Organic label. However, this label can only take us so far, and often when local small-scale farmers take the leap into organic certification they either can’t afford it or it’s not sustainable for them. But for the sake of this blog, I am mainly talking about the push for basic unadulterated foods available to most people at larger supermarkets. There has been a surge in people wanting to know that their food is clean and this has helped the awareness of organic farming practices to be more widespread. 

For those who choose to buy USDA Organic food, do they know what the difference is? I have heard people say it is not worth buying organic. So let’s get into the specifics. Under the USDA Organic label, “Organic agriculture is “an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity,” according to the USDA (USDA, 2016)” (Andrews). The organic label certifies that the product came from farms using natural or biological-based fertilizers, eco-friendly pest controls, is non-GMO, and can be traced from farm to store. There are stipulations and caveats to what each of these things means, but overall it is a helpful baseline for regulating the ingredients in our food. On the contrary, in choosing non-certified organic foods they could contain the following: Pesticides like Glyphosate, herbicides, chemicals, heavy metals like cadmium, and synthetic fertilizers. Ingesting any ONE of those for an extended period of time can wreak HAVOC on your health, let alone multiple at one time.  So to my friends who say organic isn’t worth buying – great, that’s your choice but in 20 years when your health is deteriorating quickly and you don’t know why, come back and read this post. 🙂

Conclusion & Other Resources

In conclusion, if you can afford to buy organic, buy organic. If you have access to a local co-op or farmer, buy directly from them. Both of these options can help increase your health, and relationship with food, and support the direction of healing our food system. As always, I recommend you further your research. I recommend reading any of Joel Salatin’s farming books. He is a wonderful regenerative farmer who is making a huge difference in our food system. A few wonderful documentaries I recommend watching are “Food Inc” and “Food Inc 2” for a better understanding of our food system and how to change it. We the people have the power to change it. 

Written By: Jessica 

Citations:Andrews, Helen M. “Understanding Pesticides in Organic and Conventional Crop Production Systems.” Ohioline, 28 Dec. 2018, ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/anr-69.