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Organic Food Only Affordable for the Rich

in The Too Busy to Diet Blog on June 16, 2014

The surge in organic foods available in local supermarkets is astounding.
The Worldwatch Institute, a Washington, D.C. Environmental Group says that organic farming has the potential to add to food security by improvement in nutritional intake, adding jobs in rural areas, reducing climate change vulnerability, and improving biodiversity.

The Institute for Water Research at Ben Gurion University in Israel presented a study in the Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Journal. They reported that intensive organic agriculture relies on solid organic matter such as composted manure. This practice causes leaching of nitrate into the groundwater that does not support sustainability in regions experiencing drought.
Steve Savage on the Sustainablog website documented that composting leads to greenhouses gases that can cause food poisoning that has been occurring in the U.S.
Other problems with organic farming include:

1) Lower yields than conventional agriculture- 20-50% less
2) Increases stress on farmland and water consumption due to rejection of advanced methods and technologies
3) Organic farmers do use pesticides that are toxic to warm-blooded animals
and fish
4) Exclusion of genetically modified organisms (GMO) though almost all fruits, vegetables, and grains have been genetically improved.
5) Organic foods are generally cost prohibitive except for the wealthiest in our society.

Farmers, plant breeders, and agricultural companies continue research to improve continued advances in agriculture that are based on science. For more information on healthy nutrition go to www.toobusytodietbook.com.