Kurczewski - 1

Kyla Kurczewski
Professor Hendershott-Kraetzer
Honors Writing & Rhetoric I
28 November 2014
Costs of the Good Life
Imagine having a family, you and your spouse both working fulltime to make ends meet, and its time to go grocery shopping. At the
store, you have a $100 budget to feed your family of four for seven
days. Do you choose quality over quantity or buy the cheapest items
possible?
The things some people will do purely to benefit their health and
well being, appearance, or body can be extreme. From outrageous
surgeries to a never ending supply of beauty products to artificial
supplements, if something claims to do what a consumer is looking for,
people will jump on the bandwagon and drain their bank accounts. For
instance, the organic food market is rapidly increasing, and most
people probably dont even know why theyre buying these more
expensive, healthier products. Although organic products claim to
have more vitamins and fewer pesticides, at the end of the day, it isnt
worth the extra cost, and the money going towards groceries could be
used for something more beneficial.
To be labeled organic, operations must demonstrate that they
are protecting natural resources, conserving biodiversity, and using

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only approved substances (Organic Agriculture, 2014). This prohibits
the use of certain fertilizers and pesticides, genetically modified
organisms (GMOs), and antibiotics and growth hormones on animals. It
also requires farmers to feed their livestock 100% organic feed and
allow them access to the outdoors. This means that the cows used to
make your organic hamburger werent given any hormones or growth
stimulants, grazed on land that used natural fertilizers, and were fed a
well-rounded diet of organic materials. Organic standards assure fewer
pesticide residues and food additives, but there are more cons than
benefits.
The most familiar concern with buying organic products is cost.
Organic food costs more than traditional food due to more expensive
farming practices, limited supplies, and the transportation and
handling of smaller quantities (FAO, 2014). Organic farming requires
intensive labor and management in place of chemicals for processes
such as cleaning polluted water or controlling pesticide contamination,
thus taking more time and money to complete. Due to the higher
expectations and regulations, it takes longer to grow and produce
these organic products, hence the smaller quantities needing to be
distributed. Farmers also have higher standards to meet, such as
cultivating or weeding by hand instead of spraying chemicals, which
has higher labor costs and takes more time. With our economy the way
it is today, most families and individuals dont have much extra cash

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lying around. And if they do, buying organic food is not the place to
spend it. Experts say only about fifteen percent of your income should
be spent on food expenses (groceries and dining out), so it wouldnt be
smart to get a much smaller quantity of groceries when the benefits of
conventional produce are rather equivalent (Dixon).
Another concern with organic fruits and vegetables is the fact
that because they arent treated with waxes or preservatives, they
may look unsightly and spoil faster. Though there are fewer residues on
organic products, the amount on conventional products is still within
government safety standards. For the pesticide chlordane, the
standard level on produce is 0.1 ppm (parts per million) almost across
the board (Inspections, Compliance, 2014). That amount is so
minute, and spending extra money on ugly produce to avoid this
superficial benefit is going to go right down the drain if you dont
immediately consume your purchases. Another key factor in the short
shelf life of organic products is that the distribution systems for
organic products just arent as well developed as they are for
conventional agriculture products (Lieberman, 2006). Organic food
travels slower and in smaller quantities, greatly reducing many of its
benefits. There was a study done by Sani Pure Labs in Saddle River,
New Jersey comparing the freshness of organic and conventional foods:
As it turned out, the organic broccoli and lettuce had much higher
levels of bacteria than the conventional. Its not harmful bacteria, but it

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is bacteria that will spoil your produce much quicker (Lieberman).
When it came to dairy products, lab workers could not microbiologically
tell the difference between organic and regular milk. Why would
somebody want to pay so much extra for this kind of outcome?
There is very little difference between the nutritional qualities of
organic and traditional food. And, because most Americans dont even
get the recommended daily amounts of fruits and vegetables, there is
even less validity to someone trying to argue about a greater
nutritional quality. If youre eating enough fresh, healthy foods
everyday, youll get enough nutrients and antioxidants whether theyre
organic or not. A study that was done in 2009 by the American Society
for Nutrition about the differences in nutrient content of organic and
conventional foods found the following results:

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(Dangour, Dodhia, Hayter, Allen, Lock, Uauy, 2009)

Here we can see that there were almost no differences in the nutrients
tested. Differences that were detected in crops were biologically
plausible [agree with existing data] and were most likely due to
differences in fertilizer use (nitrogen and phosphorus) and ripeness at
harvest (titratable acidity). It is unlikely that consumption of these
nutrients at the concentrations reported in organic foods in this study
provide any health benefit (Dangour et al., 2009). So as the study is
supporting, getting an adequate amount of nutrients from fruits and
vegetables does not require spending extra on organic products.

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Another reason some people choose to eat organically is because
they believe it is better for the environment when, in reality, studies
done by highly accredited and certified universities such as Stanford,
have proven otherwise. First, organic varieties actually produce more
carbon emissions per unit of food, contributing to the devastating
effects of climate change (Wilcox, 2012). Also, organic farms are only
about eighty percent as productive as conventional ones, considering
the extra amount of time and labor required. The output of organic
farming just cant compete with conventional techniques, and its
ecological cost is devastating. Producing organic demands more
energy, whether this is manual labor or fossil fuel, and the yield of
crops is still lower than conventional farming. It requires more acreage
and, as weve seen through studies, doesnt have very much
prosperity. If people really wanted to help the environment, they could
do something more substantially effective such as recycling, reserving
water and energy, or planting a tree. These actions are simple, good
for the earth, and make use of previously used material rather than
eating a product for your own benefit that could have actually hurt the
environment while its being produced.
If you buy organic, your choice of produce will be limited.
Especially during winter seasons, it is more difficult to get fresh
products from around the world. And the products stores do receive
have typically travelled longer or further than usual, causing decreased

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freshness and increasing the risk of damage or spoiled produce.
Green foods obviously cannot be grown local in the winter when one
is living in a part of the world that receives snow or reaches very low
temperatures. Tropical fruit is at its peak, but again, will have
undoubtedly travelled a long way. Imported grapes from countries such
as Chile or Argentina are fumigated with methyl bromide (a
neurotoxin) to kill medflies and other pests when they reach U.S. ports
(Burke, 2007). So, for a fruit such as grapes, if there are no domestic
varieties available, it would be of your best interest to pick something
else.
Though there may be less pesticide residue and growth
hormones in organic food, the additional cost, shorter shelf life, and
falsely accepted improved nutrient content and environmentally
friendly claims cause the disadvantages to outweigh the returns. The
extra cost involved with buying organic products could be used toward
something more valuable that could benefit both you and the world
around you.
Now when youre forced to make that decision at the grocery
store, purchasing conventional, in-season produce with a percentage of
your budget will give the same, if not more, benefits of organic
produce, and you will get a little bit more bang for your buck. I think
your family would appreciate that decision!