Organic Food Industry in the United States - Essay Example

Organic Food Outline The organic food industry has been booming in the United s. This has resulted in many arguments regarding the fact that whether organic food is superior in nutritive value and has other benefits over the conventional foods. The consumption of organic food has increased owing to the fact that people consider it to have a better taste. It is also believed to be environment friendly owing to the lack of chemicals used in its plantation. Studies have analyzed the fact that organic food consist of a greater amount of anti-oxidants in comparison to the conventional foods. It has also been proved that organic foods do not have traces of chemicals on them. Organic foods have a few drawbacks as well. These include the fact that they rot at a fast pace owing to lack of usage of preservative chemicals. They are also expensive in comparison to the conventional foods. The break out of salmonella disease in the United States owing to the consumption of organic peanuts also raised doubts about the credibility of organic foods. Studies have also claimed regarding the lack of strong benefits of organic foods. Despite of this, further studies and researches have proved that organic foods are beneficial. It is believed that to prevent disease with organic foods, regulatory bodies should be made strict to check the production of these foods. Organic Food Every individual in today’s world has become health conscious and is aware of the fact that healthy eating and lifestyle changes can result in the promotion of good health. This has led to the encouragement of food choices that serve to enhance the health status of an individual. Organic food has been an essential part of this health conscious drive. According to the Department of Agriculture in the United States, organic food is that food which “is generally free of synthetic substances; contains no antibiotics and hormones; has not been irradiated or fertilized with sewage sludge; was raised without the use of most conventional pesticides; and contains no genetically modified ingredients.” The organic food was officially recognized and permitted in the United States in the year 2002. This food was originally classified to be more nutritious and healthy for the consumers. But researches were conducted to rebut this claim and to signify the fact that there is no added benefit by the consumption of these foods (Bittman 2009; Severson et al 2009). The subject of organic food has been central to many arguments as there are claims by the producers of these foods that they are beneficial for the health of the people but this has been strongly disagreed upon by a few researchers. The organic food industry has been booming in the United States at a very fast pace. It has been seen that the sales of the organic foods has increased from 11 billion dollars in 2001 to 20 billion dollars in the year 2009. In the year 2006 alone 16.7 billion dollars were achieved from the selling of organic drinks and edibles. Furthermore, a survey conducted by Harris in the year 2007 highlighted the fact that approximately 30 percent of Americans purchase and consume organic food at some point. The survey further elaborated the fact that it was a strong belief of most of the Americans that organic food is better than the conventional food. The American first lady, Michelle Obama also created an initiative for the promotion of organic foods. She started a small plantation of organic foods in the White House to support the increased usage of organic foods for the promotion of healthy eating habits amongst the Americans (Bittman 2009; Severson et al 2009). Organic food has become a top choice owing to many factors. Many people prefer to consume organic food owing to the consideration that organic food is of a greater nutritive value in comparison to the non-organic food. The restricted use of pesticides for organic foods is also considered to be an added point. This is owing to the fact that pesticides are used for the growing of conventional food to avoid the infestation of the crops with pests. This usage tends to leave small amounts of the pesticides on the crops. Organic food is preferred as it restricts the intake of these traces of pesticides. It is also a part of the federal regulation for organic food that additives and artificial taste enhancers are not allowed to be added to these foods. Thus, it becomes a favorable choice for many people owing to the natural taste and the lack of artificial substances in these foods. The advocates of the conservation of environment also highly support the usage of organic foods owing to the environment friendly practices used in the growth of organic foods. This is because chemicals like pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers are not used in the fields for growing organic foods. These chemical substances do not only leave trace on the produced crop but they also tend to produce pollution of the soil, air and water which can prove to be harmful for the people. This has been proved by the fact that 120,000 that are organically grown are present on the farms in the United States and 761,000 acres plantations work towards the production of organic foods. It is because of these farms that the environment is saved from millions of pounds of chemicals (Hirshberg 2009; Mayo Clinic Staff 2011). The health benefits of organic foods have also been proved and put forward with the assistance of different researches. It has been proved that organic foods consist of anti-oxidants which are vital substances involved in the prevention of many pathological conditions. These include cardiac diseases, diabetes as well as different types of cancers. Therefore, organic foods result in the reduction of many disease states. A research conducted by the Newcastle University in the United Kingdom provided important results in this regard. It highlighted the fact that fruits and vegetables of organic nature had a 40 percent higher concentration of anti-oxidants. It also provided for the fact that organic milk also had a 60 percent greater amount of anti-oxidants in comparison to the conventional milk. A similar research that was conducted in the University of California in the year 2007 presented the findings that tomatoes had a 97 percent higher value of two forms of antioxidants. Thus, these studies serve to highlight the advantage of the organic foods over the conventional foods (Bittman 2009; Hirshberg 2009). The disadvantages of organic foods have also been put forward. Organic foods are expensive in comparison to the conventional foods owing to the fact that the growth and production of these foods involves more costly agricultural practices. The organic foods are not preserved with artificial means and therefore they may not be conserved for longer periods of time and may start to rot. Furthermore, an alarming outburst of infection associated with salmonella in the year 2009 due to the consumption of organic peanuts raised questions about the credibility of organic foods over conventional foods. This infectious spread led to the death of 9 people and it led to infect 700 more people (Mayo Clinic Staff 2011; Severson et al 2009). Many studies have also been conducted to indicate the fact that organic foods do not have a higher benefit in comparison to the conventional foods. A study conducted by Dangour and his colleagues which was published in the American Society for Nutrition in the year 2009 presented with the drawback of organic foods. This study was based on the collection of scholarly and reliable articles between the years of 1958 to 2008. The important articles were identified and evaluated and results were obtained. The results highlighted the fact that there was no additional and significant nutrient value of organic foods in comparison to the conventional foods (Dangour et al 2009). The proponents of organic foods have provided with strong arguments to rebut the claims of these studies. It has been indicated that the studies that were evaluated were outdated and were not conducted according to the standards of the researches conducted now. Furthermore, these researches did no cover all the aspects of organic foods like the values of antioxidants. It is also argued by people that organic foods are planted and produced in the best possible way but that does not mean that they have higher safety levels and the level of safety is based on the regulations imposed on the producers of organic foods (Hirshberg 2009; Severson et al 2009). The promotion of a healthy lifestyle in the United States will only be achieved if people tend to opt for healthy foods and adapt a lifestyle that promotes exercise and an active living. This will lead to a reduction in diseases like obesity and cardiovascular problems in the country. Organic foods are an important part of this drive for the achievement of a healthy living. Organic foods are essential and have a higher nutritive value. They should be promoted amongst the masses and the consumption of this food will also be helpful in improving the health of the citizens of the country. But it should also be noted that strict regulations and checks should be conducted to prevent the outbreaks of diseases due to organic foods. Works Cited Bittman, Mark. “Eating Food That’s Better for You, Organic or Not.” The New York Times. 21 Mar. 2009. Web 20 Sep. 2011. Dangour, A.D, S.K Dodhia, A Hayter, E Allen, K Lock, and R Uauy. "Nutritional Quality of Organic Foods: a Systematic Review." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 90.3 (2009): 680-685. Print. Hirshberg, Gary. “UK Study Misleads Public by Ignoring Documented Health and Environmental Benefits of Organic Food.” Huffington Post. 31 July 2009. Web 20 Sep. 2011. Mayo Clinic Staff. “Organic foods: Are they safer? More nutritious?” Mayo Clinic. 10 Jun. 2011. Web 20 Sep. 2011. Severson, Kim and Andrew Martin. “It’s Organic, but Does That Mean It’s Safer?” The New York Times. 3 Mar. 2009. Web 20 Sep. 2011. Read More