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Being green and eco-friendly is something many of us strive to achieve. Whether we are turning off a light when we leave the room, recycling more waste or eating more healthily. Consuming Organic produce, is supposedly good for our health and the environment. Yet, is organic actually healthier or are we being told to believe it is so higher prices can be charged for certified organic products. This section will provide the reasons to why some organic foods can have a negative impact as opposed to the view of organic as eco-friendly.

Expensive Prices

Buying certified organic products is said to be a great way to help the environment, as well as a great way to improve our health. However, it has been argued many organic products are not as natural and eco-friendly as they claim. Instead, critics claim the organic label is just another way of companies making bigger profits. People are far more willing to pay a higher price for something certified as organic.

Organic Meat

Organic meat may not be as ethical and natural as one might think. Although some of the animals will receive a better standard of living from being free to roam pastures, their death will be anything but natural. When it is time for the animal to be slaughtered the organic status of the animal is completely disregarded as the animal is beaten, mistreated and killed just like animals on factory farms.

 
Organic workers 

Another problem with organic farming, is that there is no way of telling whether the farm workers get a decent wage and whether workers are treated properly. The organic products themselves sell for high prices so one would assume all workers would be sufficiently paid, this is not always the case. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) does not address labour conditions in their organically certified farm requirements. This provides an example of how the USDA does not concern itself with how the food is produced and how the workers are treated. Instead the USDA only focuses on ensuring the agriculture system works to their liking to create maximum revenue for the economy. The USDA approves many factory farms where millions of animals suffer a confined life and an ugly death.

Farmers Problems

According to the National Farmers Union (NFU), organic farmers may suffer low product sales because of competitive supermarket prices. These supermarkets tend to get their organic stock from large and well established farms that are already making a good living. So smaller farms are not given a fighting chance. Other problems facing farmers include; expensive farm land leases and rising costs of purchasing to grow organic crops and feed animals.

Imported produce

Organic produce may travel thousands of miles to reach the supermarket shelf. When the product finally reaches the supermarket, the pollution caused from shipping the produce causes more harm than good. The Organic status is almost lost because of the environmental impact of transportation. However, it’s also argued that by importing from farmers abroad supermarkets are supporting the livelihood of poor farms in third world countries.

Image by US Department of Agriculture

Action

It can be concluded, while some organic products are beneficial to both us and the environment, in many instances we can be misled into buying something because of the ‘organic’ label. In order to eat truly organic consumers can buy more local produce, to support the farmers and the environment. In doing so, this would eliminate thousands of air miles that would normally cause great environmental impact. Buying local seems to be the most eco-friendly option available to consumers.