Written Analysis 1 - Due Sunday, August 31, 2014

Americans’ Obsession with Organic Food

It has become a popular belief that eating organic food is healthier for you, and can actually prevent certain cancers. It is also believed that growing organic food is better for the environment. However, some would argue that it is expensive to eat organically, and that it does not provide any better health benefits than the conventional items purchased at a regular grocery store.

Let’s take a look at organic food as a good vs. evil myth. A large amount of research has been done on the topic of organic foods and farming. Some research concludes that the benefits far outweigh the cost, while other research provides the exact opposite results. In an article written by John J. Miller (2004), he gives an example of how in Britain not using pesticides allowed a mold to grow on corn, leaving behind a cancer causing residue. This corn was used to make several organic corn meal products which were later tested by the United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency and found to have a contamination level of 20 times higher than the allowable standard. Even though this report was released to the public, millions of people still believe that organic foods are better for them than the non-organic ones.

This obsession with organic food and products has created a new category of popular culture not only in the United States, but in the global market as well. According to an article in Business Insights: Global (2013) over $60 billion annually has been spent on organically produced food and other products.
Organic food has even reached an iconic status here in the United States. There are many symbols and logos that represent organically grown food, and a very large percentage of grocery items now have labels identifying the food as either certified organic, non GMO or all natural.

References

Miller, J. (2004). The Organic Myth. National Review, 56(2), 35-37.
Miller, H. (Nov. 14, 2013). The Myth That Is Organic Farming. Africa News
            Service. Business Insights: Global. Web. 31 Aug. 2014.