Organic VS. Conventional

As of late in my English class, we've been looking into the field of agriculutre. Being me, at first I thought we were just going to be talking about food for a week, and because I love food, I thought I would love this week of class. However, this week turned out to be more educational that I had originally thought. We learned about how food is grown and some of the chemicals used as well as how today's food is a lot more processed than it was ever before. I, at first also had my own opinions on the food grown by big companies in this industry. To me it was full of hormones and steroids and the only good food that is still grown out of the ground is 100% organic.

In class, I watched a movie called Fresh about the modern agricultural business; small farms as well as large corperations. It showed how large companies have been taking smaller farms out of business. It also showed how companies are using chemicals on the growing crops to make them last longer, but in turn that causes conflicts with the human body. It was said that eating organic foods; or foods grown without the use of chemicals are heathiler for you.

I've always beleived this to be true. It is always better to have naturally grown food rather than to have it covered in chemicals. Even with things like colds, I don't feel medication always has to be used to help the cold. Colds are very capable of coming and going on their own. In reading an article from CNN The Organic Debate: Healthier or Not? http://www.cnn.com/FOOD/specials/2000/organic.debate.ciampa/index.html, I have learned that the subject of whether or not organic food is better has been a big debate for some time now.

Some people, who support the consumption of organic food do so because of the lack of growth hormones, pesticides, and antibiotics the food has. Katherine DiMatteo, executive director of the Organic Trade Association, states that she is pro organic food because organic food is grown under standards which must be abided by and these standards ban the use of chemcials. She also feels that the soil the food is grown in is better because of it's nutritional value to the plants. The plants are washed properly and composted manure is used to fertilize the plants.

However, Alex Avery, director of research at The Hudson Institute Center for Global Food Issues disagrees. There has been no evidence or studies to prove whether or not organic food is better for the body. The food, organic or not is the same in terms of nutrition. ""Food (might) be modified to provide enriched vitamins, nutrients, improve food quality, make food last longer and eventually decrease the cost of food," said plant biotechnologist Sivramiah Shantharam, with the International Food Policy Research Institute."

In another article from Mayoclinic called Organic foods: Are they safer? More nutritious? http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/organic-food/NU00255 held the same debate as my last article. I tried to stay away biased articles to give me a clear insight on both sides. This article had a chart on it to explain the differences between organic and what they article called "conventional". For example, "conventional" farmers use sprays to keep bugs away while organic farmers use the natural life cycle of certain bugs and birds to keep pests away.

That to me just again makes me want to eat organic food. I've always been my own special version of a environment nut and almost anything that promotes the natural life life cycle is good with me.