Medindia LOGIN REGISTER
Medindia

Organic foods – The downside


Organic foods – The downside

There are some downside to the use of organic foods. Few of these are as follows:

A. The Cost factor:

Organic food items are approximately 40% more expensive than conventional food, making it a luxury for the common man.

B.The Quality of food:

The critics of organic food think that the current fad for this food is hyped, possibly promoted by lobbies with vested interest. However, there are no scientific explanation to their claims.

  • The critics acclaim that if the soil and water are already contaminated through years of manipulated farming, the organic food grown on these soils is likely to be contaminated as well.
  • Ploughing or tilling the farm has more damaging effects than employing herbicides, like glyphosphates.
  • Organic farming avoids the use of synthetic pesticides, but allows the use of pesticides derived from certain plants which comprises of ‘questionable’ chemicals
Advertisement
  • Critics claim that conventional farming makes use of only specific chemicals as fertilizers, while organic farming employs manure and compost, which leads to a wide variety of chemicals being unnecessarily introduced into the soil
  • Several ‘organic’ farms use manure derived from animals, raised and fed in a non-organic fashion. Besides, manure is also a rich source of biological contaminants.
  • Recent controversies include, using so called ‘organic’ products from cloned animals. The majority of these animals have been derived from animals raised non-organically.

C. Low Production:

Most of the organic food is sold out as soon as it reaches the market, as the production of these food items is insufficient to meet the growing demand. The yield of organic foods is far too low compared to the conventional yield.

Advertisement
Recommended Reading