Organic vs Non Organic Foods Essay

It’s hard to walk into a grocery store and not notice a certain new kind of trend. There is a growing urge to have more organic items on shelves. The general belief is that organic items tend to be better for the consumer and the environment when compared to non-organic items. Although many people cant tell the difference, there are multiple pros and cons between organic and nonorganic. In terms of consumer health, both organic and processed foods have their benefits. The benefits of processed foods are that scientists can place additives that increase the nutritional value. According to Dr. Mehmet Oz (2010), this helps to â€Å"prevent neural-tube defects and certain childhood cancers, boost brain development and may increase intelligence, and reduce the incidence of rickets. † This means that theres nutrients that can be added to aid in helping the country with disease prevention. Organic foods lack the ability to be genetically modified but offer their own benefits as well. According to Maria Rodale (2010), some organically grown foods have â€Å" more conjugated linleic acid, which is a powerful cancer-fighting nutrient. † Both these types of food can help consumers healthy and prevent disease. There are some alarming differences between organic and processed foods especially when considering agriculture. â€Å"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, â€Å"Growing foods organically prevents thousands of toxic chemicals from entering the environment and poisoning our soil, our wells, our wildlife, our children and ourselves† (2010). Organic goods also tend to cost more leading to them being classified as a luxury item. The downside is that most cattle and genetically altered crops have â€Å"unwanted additives like growth hormone and chemicals† (Oz 2010). It’s hard to know whether it’s worth the money to go organic or just stick with the usual. Foods grown without the aids of pesticides seem to be beneficial to the consumer and the environment, which is a big selling point for those who want to go green. On the other hand they are much more costly than non-organic crops. Many people would rather risk the potentially harmful additives to shave a few bucks of the price. It all depends on preference and beliefs but its definitely easy to see where they offer there own pros and cons. Miller, M. (2004). The Organic Myth. National Review, 56(2), 35-37. Oz, M. (2010). The Organic Alternative. Time, 176(9), 46-46. Rodale, M. (2010). 15 WAYS TO CHANGE THE WORLD (and your life)†¦ ONE APPLE AT A TIME. Men’s Health (10544836), 25(3), 113-138.