Organic debate: the argument for

At a recent event I attended a professional cook was demonstrating how to ‘joint' a chicken.  The chicken was smaller than I'm used to, but smelt absolutely divine.  I asked how much it was, the reply - 'almost £15'. I balked at the price '£15?!' 'Yes' came the reply, ‘this is how much meat costs...proper meat, from animals, in a field, with no nasties'. He explained. ‘Many years ago meat was a once a week treat for most people, because it was SO expensive. What the majority eat now isn't real meat, but factory produced, tinkered with to get as big as possible, as quickly as possible. It isn't natural!'

This really got me thinking, why are some foods so cheap but their organic counterparts so expensive? Is it just a fad? And the big question is why are we paying more for produce that hasn't got anything added to it (organic) and less for those which have expensive additives (antibiotics, pesticides etc)?

[quote]Every week food prices are rising and yet most salaries are remaining the same year on year, so most of us are looking to tighten our belts. And one of the first things that people tend to cut back on is food spend. There are nearly always cheaper options around. If you can pay £6 for two premium organic free range chicken breasts, when on the next shelf you can by 6 ‘normal ones' for £2, which would you go for? Why spend that bit more on a half dozen organic eggs when you can by non-organic cheaper, particularly as they taste the same to most people.

Why indeed?  Money is clearly a big motivational force. But what has to be considered here is that there is often a large disconnect in what is healthy and what is perceived to be a quick and filling fix; in short, many of us are not really thinking about what is being ingested. Think about your normal trip to the supermarket. Glancing around on the shelves, the organic items are usually clearly labelled with soil association labelling on a premium price tag.  The rest of the shelves contain similar products with colourful packaging and all at a cheaper price. Many of these are labelled with words like ‘fresh' and ‘healthy' and with imagery of farms of yesteryear.  Surely going for these cheaper options wouldn't harm you? 

Stop!  And think. Look at the labels on the non-organic packaging.  Is there any indication what pesticides/antibiotics/drugs have been added to your food. Sure meat packaging tells you the main ingredients, but this is usually after the animal has been butchered (ie 90% chicken 10% water) - what was added when the animal was alive?  There is a similar story with fresh fruit and vegetables. You buy an apple. It is only an apple isn't it?  Yes...and no - what pesticides were sprayed on the developing fruit when it was growing?  How much has been absorbed into the skin and flesh?  You have no way of knowing.

I have an apple tree in my garden, every year it produces a bumper crop of apples. I use nothing on the tree except a little water in dry periods.  At the end of August/beginning of September these apples are ready for picking, and are beautiful to eat. Within a week of picking they've started to go brown and soft - compared with a ‘normal' apple from the supermarket which lasts for ages. In fact the only real sign of a slightly older apple is that the texture of the flesh goes a little powdery.

I also make my own bread at home with organic ingredients. It goes hard after almost a day, and starts going mouldy very quickly after. Now look at a shop bought mass produced sliced loaf - when was the last time you saw mould on the slices? I think I was still a boy when we used to have to throw away bread on a regular basis....now I don't do it at all. But, you might insist, you've been eating non organic food for years, and have no ill effects. I would ask you, how do you know you have suffered no ill effects?

Take a well known case from a few years ago. You may have heard of DDT (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane). This was a very popular synthetic insectide used on crops for human consumption in the 1940s and ‘50s.  Its usage was abruptly stopped in the early ‘70s when it was found that it was linked to cause cancer and diabetes in humans. How do we know what is being used now doesn't have similar (or worse) long term risks?

In this economic climate, I have little hope of converting people to the ‘organic lifestyle'. In fact due to financial constraints I'm an unable to buy many organic products. After all at the moment we live for the short term

However, a friend who is a fully paid up member of the ‘organic club', advises that if you were to have only two organic products in your shopping basket, they should be milk and eggs.  Milk after all is basically the essence of its mother, and any chemicals will be passed straight down into it. The same goes for eggs.

So no matter how tight my belt is that week, I will buy those without fail.  For other products I will always spend as much as I can.  In my mind two chicken breasts for £4 will be a lot better quality, and have a lot less harmful chemicals than the bulk packs which sell eight breasts for £2. I think the British public needs to be re-educated about food, and I think everyone needs to start to think about the food they are purchasing.  And I think people need to start to think about the risk to them and their families if they choose to buy non-organic food.

However, I also think that organic food needs to be made more accessible to the masses. The current gap in prices between non-organic and organic is too great. The government needs to get involved to increase choice and lower the premium demand, so ‘natural' food is the norm again.

Do you agree with James? Leave your comments below

Now read the argument against eating organic ...

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