Organic: The Clear Choice
Organic is a term that came about in the 1940’s, used by Lord Walter Northbourne to describe chemical free farming after pesticides and other chemicals were introduced to the food supply chain. Prior to the 20th century, the only method of supplying the food chain was organic, because there was no other way; it was just considered normal (Reid). Several factors such as economics, environmental concerns, food safety, health and nutrition are just some of the reasons people are choosing to make the lifestyle change to organic. While cost is a factor stopping some people from making the change, numerous studies have been done over the years to show that the organic way of life is better for us as humans and for the earth we live on. This organic way of life was good enough for our great ancestors, and it is clearly a good choice for us.
Economically, sales of organic foods are on the rise; in the United States, sales have grown tremendously over the past several years. From 2000 to 2009, sales have gone from 1 billion dollars to 25 billion dollars according to The Organic Trade Organization. While these numbers seem quite large, organic food only represents about 3.7 percent of all food sales in the nation, and farmland used for organic farming only represents only about .7 percent, while only .5 percent of land used to raise livestock is for organic use ("Introduction to Is Organic Food Better?: At Issue."). Even with the nation’s economic trouble over the past few years, if there is an increase in the amount of farmland available to farm and to raise livestock organically, it will benefit our economy. More families eating organic will increase jobs all along the food supply chain, which keeps money being spent within the US economy and will continue to increase availability and help lower the cost of organic products. Farming using modern agriculture techniques also require about 50-70 percent more energy used than when farming...