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Nicholas Belnap
Lisa Packer
English 1010
15Apr2016
The Organic Truth
The individual consumer in todays market has been convinced by food corporations that
organic is the solution to all their problems. That paying more for something that is labeled
organic will save the planet and make them healthy. Yet when asked to explain the concept and
processes of organic food the average consumer can only give a brief and misguided explanation
of only the pros the food companies highlight. Only through exploring what organic food truly
means and the negative side effects that it has, will we will truly understand the full meaning and
how it is not the savior people think it is.
The term Organic is often applied to many different products, but for the sake of this
paper I will focus on fruits and vegetables. To start, it is necessary to understand what the term
organic means. There are many different definitions to consider. When the consumer is in the
store there are three types of organic labels they could see; organic, contains organic, and
certified organic. These may seem like the same thing, but they are not. By a technical
definition organic mean to be derived from a living thing, through this definition over half the
items in the store are organic. Corporations use this terminology to confuse consumers into
thinking that the items they are buying are the same as certified organic. The label certified
organic means that product is certified grown without any man-made fertilizers, pesticides, and

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it is not allowed to use genetically modified organisms according to the USDA. Unless it is
USDA Organic, it may be something else like contains organic. Which can contain up to thirty
percent of non-organic items, and in other cases the product could not meet the standards the
consumers think they are buying.
With such a wide variety of definitions it is tricky to understand what is really meant by
organic. Although even with this confusion people still argue that all farms should go to
organic farms. For the sake of clarity we will assume that this means that all farms should be
Certified Organic farms. Those who argue this say that this is way to go and the best option
for the future. However they fail to take in account the yield rate of these organic farms. Sarah
Yang explores this in her article Can Organic Crops Compete with Industrial Agriculture?
where she states that researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 115 studies a dataset three
times greater than previously published work comparing organic and conventional
agriculture. They found that organic yields are about 19.2 percent lower than conventional ones.
With this we must consider if our country can afford the cut in productions. This information
requires us to take economic considerations into account when discussing the option of
producing only organic.
Organic food is more expensive due to the time and effort involved in the process of
growing. According to The Consumer Report organic food can be anywhere from ten to two
hundred percent more expensive than industrial grown plants. Not only are they already more
expensive, but after switching all farm food production from industrial to organic, the cut in yield
of 19.2 percent would decrease the supply. As per the laws of supply and demand, we know that
if the supply decreases and the demands stay the same, the price will increase and demands
wont be meet. This begs the question, would the normal house hold be able to afford this

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increase, or would it just encourage the consumers to invest in unhealthy but cheaper foods?
According to USA Today the average American is already spending $146 to $289 a week on just
food. How much more would this increase if the production of food was cut? I do not think that
the average consumer could afford this. Likewise, I do not think that organic farms could grow
enough food to support our population, much less supporting other countries through
humanitarian efforts.
Next we must look at the damages that organic farming does to the environment. In
Robert Paarlbergs Attention Whole Food Shoppers he debunks the myth that organic food is
better for us and the environment. He beings by explaining that less than one percent of
Americas cropland is under certified organic production (Bauer 244). From my previous
statement we know that these farms are not allowed to use any man-made fertilizers or
pesticides, and are not allowed to use genetically modified organisms. He explains why
switching the rest of the farms to organically produced fertilizers would harm our environment
more than the man-made nitrogen fertilizer currently being used in production. Mr. Paarlberg
discloses that:
It would require a lot more composted animal manure. To supply enough organic
fertilizer, the U.S. cattle population would have to increase roughly fivefold. And
because those animals would have to be raised organically on forage crops, much
of the land in the lower 48 states would need to be converted to pasture. (244)
This would also include a deforestation to make room for both the cattle and the increase in farm
size to compensate for the lower yield rate.

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Along with this Robert Paarlbergs does not even mention the increase in both methane
gas and greenhouse gases that would accompany this increase. This part of the increase in
greenhouse gases would be due to all farm gear and equipment that would be required to work
longer hours and seasons due to the slow growth rates of these organic farms. The rise in
methane would be due to the large number of cattle need for the organic farms. These two factors
would greatly increase the release of greenhouse gases into our ozone. So do we swap out the
industrial farms for organic ones, just to damage our entire planet and ozone even more than it
already is?
In conclusion only though an understanding of what organic is and how the corporations
try to convince you to buy their product can one understand the effect it has on us. The individual
consumers must learn the full scope of what switching organic would require and the damages it
would cause. We much keep an eye out for the misguidance of pro organic companies that do
not give the full scope of both pros and cons. Then we must understand organic farms cannot
support our population. The yield rate is too low to provide enough food which is at an
affordable production for the average American. It may in time, but we have to look at all sides
of the picture before we can make a decision on our future.

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Work Cited
Bauer, Holly. Food Matters. Boston/New York: Bedford/ St. Martins, 2014 Print
Hellmich, Nanci. Cost of Feeding a Family of Four USA TODAY. May 1, 2013. n. pag. Web,
Marks, Tod Cost of Organic Food Consumer Reports, Web March 19, 2015
United States Department of Agriculture. Organic Standards United States
Department of Agriculture. Web. N.P.
Yang, Sarah. Can organic crops compete with industrial agriculture? Berkeley News. Web
December 9, 2014