RSSNew studies on benefits of organics and free-range
Oct 28
I ran into these 2 recent studies:
In the case of organic foods, it’s not a big deal to me if they contain more nutrients. I care about the pesticides. There is considerable evidence that pesticides are very carcinogenic (quick results from a search: this and this), so I’d like to see more marketing of organics on that angle.
Oct 28, 2007 @ 11:20:32
Are there enough organic farmers for everyone to eat organic food? Or will the price of organic food keep it out of reach of lower income families? What good is knowing it’s better for us if we can’t afford it?
Oct 28, 2007 @ 11:50:07
“What good is knowing it’s better for us if we can’t afford it?”
- What good was research into computers 50+ years ago, if no regular person could afford one at the time?
- What good is research into cures for Cancer if the average person couldn’t afford the treatment for the first 10 years it’s available?
- Why did we bother learning how to fly 100 years ago if the average person wasn’t able to afford to fly until the past few decades?
What’s going to happen with organic foods is that demand for them will keep steadily increasing (it’s the only growth sector of the food market currently). Eventually, once it reaches a critical mass of say 10 or 20% of production costs will decrease to the point where it makes sense for another large percentage of the farmers to switch. I’d bet eventually most food production will be organic as costs come down and evidence of the effects of pesticides keep growing.
Invention of a “safe” pesticide would change all that, but then the definition of organic would likely have to change as well.