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What's the difference between organic and conventional farming
Benefits of organic food in human health
What's the difference between organic and conventional farming
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Organic vs. Processed Foods Food is the basic necessity of our life, it is important for our growth and survival. Two of the most prominent food groups we come across in life are organic foods and processed foods. Both processed and organic have some benefits and disadvantages to our health. Overall, organic food has better health benefits than processed food. Processed foods are produced and preserved using chemicals. “Processed foods include all food products that have been altered in some way to either turn them into food, extend their shelf life, or prepare them for human or animal consumption” (Frey). Organic foods are produced naturally without any use of chemicals. Farmers tend to grow organic food using natural methods only. They avoid …show more content…
“Natural foods like milk, fruit, and vegetables have more vitamins than processed foods. Organic food contains more antioxidants” (Cevat). The conventionally grown food has the ability to get digested more easily than processed food. Organic foods contribute more in the growth process; it has many nutrients needed for growth. Organic foods are also completely free from GMOs (genetically modified organisms); therefore, likely to lower the risk of common health problems such as heart disease, cancer, allergies, and hyperactive children. Although organic food seems like nothing could go wrong, there are some complications. Some organic foods such as meat may contain harmful bacteria which a person eating the meat would …show more content…
The omnivore's dilemma: the secrets behind what you eat. Young readers ed ed., New York : Dial Books, 2009.
Frey, Rebecca J., and Megan Porter. "Whole Foods vs. Processed Foods." The Gale Encyclopedia of Diets, edited by Kristin Key, Gale, 2nd edition, 2013. Credo Reference, https://login.liblink.uncw.edu/login?url=http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/galediets/whole_foods_vs_processed_foods/0?institutionId=3329. Accessed 26 Oct 2017.
Gimenez, Eric. "Too Poor for Organic? Raise the Minimum Wage." Huffington Post. 5 Nov. 2013. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
Guthman, Julie. "Bringing Good Food to Others: Investigating the Subjects of Alternative Food Practice." Cultural Geographies 15.4 (2008): 431-47. ProQuest. Web. 26 Oct.
In “Called Home”, the first chapter of the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year in Food Life, Barbara Kingsolver presents her concerns about America's lack of food knowledge, sustainable practices, and food culture. Kingsolver introduces her argument for the benefits of adopting a local food culture by using statistics, witty anecdotal evidence, and logic to appeal to a wide casual reading audience. Her friendly tone and trenchant criticism of America's current food practices combine to deliver a convincing argument that a food culture would improve conditions concerning health and sustainability. I agree with Kingsolver that knowing the origin of food is an important and healthy benefit of developing a true food culture, but it is impractical to maintain that everyone is able to buy more expensive food. Kingsolver presents a compelling argument for developing a food culture, however this lifestyle change may not be practical or even possible for a poverty-level citizen. The following essay will summarize and respond to Kingsolver’s argument to demonstrate how “Called Home” is a model for novice social scientists.
The Omnivore’s Dilemma In the book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan challenges his readers to examine their food and question themselves about the things they consume. Have we ever considered where our food comes from or stopped to think about the process that goes into the food that we purchase to eat every day? Do we know whether our meat and vegetables picked out were raised in our local farms or transported from another country? Michael pollen addresses the reality of what really goes beyond the food we intake and how our lives are affected.
Gardner, Christopher. Notes from the Doc Talks. Stanford University. Web. April 10, 2014. Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. New York:
The problematic aspect of processed food is all the added hormones, preservatives, and antibiotics that are injected into the food. Organic foods have none of these additives, and the pure characteristic of organic food is a valuable thing. Pollan (2008) agrees with this when he writes, “instead of worrying about nutrients, we should simply avoid any food that has been processed to such an extent that it is more the product of industry than of nature” (p. 424). I have a medical condition in which I am not supposed to eat any foods that have added preservatives, hormones, or antibiotics. This is because my body is hypersensitive to chemicals and, especially, added hormones. It can easily cause serious health problems. Pollan (2008) also added an opinion made by a food politics and policy lecturer, Gyorgy Scrinis, who believes that, “the most important fact about any food is not its nutrient content but its degree of processing” (p. 423). If everyone would stop their constant consideration in nutrient content and turn their attention to additives; America could become a much healthier
A gene used for pest control, Bt, has infected these foods. You would never know this gene existed because it’s not included in the label. Organic foods are specifically labeled as organic whenever you may find them at a grocery store or elsewhere. These foods are known as being essentially grown in healthy soil, in other words, a soil that isn’t infected with poisonous, synthetic fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, or fungicides. Although organic foods are more expensive, it is only the result from the frequent crop rotations completed by the farmers during long, hot hours under the sun. Conventional farming methods destroy topsoil whereas organic farming can improve the overall health of the topsoil. Farmers who partake in organic farming view it as feeding the soil and not the plants. Due to this thinking method, a healthy soil provides healthy plants, healthy people and a healthy environment. Organic farming has the ability to feed an entire population and put an end to starvation. The dangerous pesticides that are added with conventional farming are outdated and risky to mankind. Relying on synthetic fertilizers and chemicals are paralyzing our
“What should we have for dinner?” (Pollan 1). Michael Pollan, in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals shows how omnivores, humans, are faced with a wide variety of food choices, therefore resulting in a dilemma. Pollan shows how with new technology and food advancement the choice has become harder because all these foods are available at all times of the year. Pollan portrays to his audience this problem by following food from the food chain, to industrial food, organic food, and food we forage ourselves; from the source to a final meal and, lastly he critiques the American way of eating. Non-fiction books should meet certain criterions in order to be successful. In his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, Michael Pollan is able to craft an ineffective piece of non-argumentative non-fiction due to a lack of a clear purpose stated at the outset of the book, as well as an inability to engage the reader in the book due to the over-excessive use of technical jargon as well as bombarding the reader with facts.
Eating healthy can be an effective and beneficial way to live a long a vigorous life. Certain foods are considered the key to daily nutrition that every person needs in order to completely function throughout the day. These foods that are considered “healthy”, provides individuals with vitamins, minerals, nutrients and replenishes the necessities that the body needs to stay well. On the other hand, eating healthy foods can sometimes be a long-term obligation and be somewhat expensive. In many case, organic food is considered healthy but has been found to be somewhat more expensive than regular market food. In many instances people do not consider all aspects of
All in all, this book is a great read for those seeking to learn more about food and how it relates to all aspects of life and history as well as find that extra push in taking the initiative in improving one’s eating habits and lifestyle. It serves as an easy to follow introduction into a healthy relationship with food including with simple guidelines that are not too forceful or complex to understand.
With the world’s population continuing to increase, the demand for food is higher than ever. This increase in food demand also calls for more efficient ways of growing and providing the food. Two methods that are very controversial are the organic and conventional method. While many people support the organic method because of its known benefits, others feel that it is an over inflated industry that cheats consumers out of their money. But recently many studies have disproved those critics. These studies prove that Organic food is a better choice than conventional because it is better for the environment, avoids the use of chemicals, and is generally more beneficial.
Thesis: Organic food is full of nutrients and when compared to conventional food is a much better choice
Gonzalez, Julina Roel. ""The Philosophy of Food," Edited by David M. Kaplan." Ed. Michael Goldman. Teaching Philosophy 36.2 (2013): 181-82. Print.
Food has been a common source of necessity in our everyday lives as humans. It helps gives us nutrition and energy to live throughout our life. Over several decades, the development of making foods has evolved. They have changed from natural to processed foods in recent years. Nowadays natural ingredients are barely used in the making of foods like bread, cheese, or yogurt. The food industry today has replaced natural food making with inorganic ingredients. The cause of this switch is due to processed foods being easier, cheaper and faster to make. Artificial nutrition and processed foods have been proven to last longer in market shelves then natural foods. Also, due to artificial additives in processed foods they help satisfy consumers taste more than natural ingredients. The method of producing processed foods is common in today's food industry and helps make money faster and efficiently for companies. Examples of this can be found in all markets that distribute food. Even though processed foods may be easier and faster to make, they are nowhere near as healthy for consumers compared to natural foods. Natural foods are healthier, wholesome, and beneficial to the human body and planet then processed foods.
Organic food is generally not much healthier than regular fruits and such nutrition wise with a few exceptions. “Higher vitamin C concentrations were found in organic leafy vegetables, such as spinach, lettuce, and chard versus the same conventionally produced vegetables in 21 of 36 (58%) studies”( Foreman). Also mentioned is that organic and nonorganic milk is not much different as “In general, milk has the same protein, vitamin, trace mineral content, and lipids from both organically and conventionally reared cows.”( Foreman).Despite the exception, it has been stated that the exception does not have strong enough evidence that can let a statement such as “eating organic food is more beneficial than eating conventionally grown food” stand on its own and be taken seriously. Another unfortunate circumstance on organic food is the price. On average, anything organic is priced higher than non-organic food, and according to Digestive Specialists Inc., it “…costs anywhere from 20 to 100 percent more than regular produce” (Digestive Specialists). The higher price leaves any financially struggling person or family less likely to invest in organic food when there is always a cheaper option available, even if the cheaper product isn’t beneficial to their health. The reason for this, mentioned by Health Research Funding,“…Organic farmers do not use artificial fertilizers, they tend to produce smaller quantities. Their method of farming is also more labor-intensive with weed pulling and crop rotation. And then there is the issue of supply and demand – as the demand for organic produce increases, so does the price” (Health Research Funding). The quality of organic fruits, while being mostly free of pesticides and chemicals, can also have a lot less time to deteriorate compared to non-organic foods. To summarize the issue, Mayo Clinic states that, “Because organic fruits and vegetables aren 't
First of all, the main reason that people choose organic food is that people think organic foods have less chemical residue, such as pesticide, and fertilizer. In the article “Organic foods contain higher levels of certain nutrients, lower levels of pesticides, and may provide health benefits for the consumer”, Crinnion indicated that organic foods just had 33 percent of the amount of pesticide and fertilizer residues that found in conventional foods, and conventional foods contain two or more types of chemical residues than organic foods (Crinnion, 2010). In addition, Crinnion used a study of Seattle preschoolers as an example to demonstrate organic foods have less pesticide residues. The study of Seattle concluded that children who ate more conventional foods had six times higher level of pesticide resi...
As we stroll the aisles of our local supermarkets we see all kinds of food products, but does it ever occur to you how fresh or natural these products maybe. Organic farming prohibits any use of artificial chemicals, growth hormones, or antibiotics in the production of its crops and livestock. Organic farming has existed for centuries, but after the industrial revolution factory farming was arising. Organic farming does not allow the use of any pesticides in its crops or livestock production, but also helps sustain a good economic flow in rural communities. Although there are many benefits of organic farming, there is a lack of credibility some farmers provide within the distribution of their products and some argue that there’s no difference