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eolecki's picture

Organic vs. Processed

            In reading the “Big Organic” chapter in the book I realized that I had never really questioned what “organic” actually meant.  I have come to the conclusion that it simply means not using unnatural products like chemical based pesticides or fertilizers.  However, through marketing ploys many people think of organic as completely natural, grown on a small farm, not on an industrial scale.  The entire organic market is deceiving according to Pollan’s observations and is not the wonderful alternative to processed foods we think of it as.  But putting aside the misconceptions about the organic foods market, the question of the benefit of consuming organic food to processed food arises.  Even though organic food is not as “organic” as we think, I still think it is a better alternative to processed food.  If all things were the same, price and environmental factors, who wouldn’t chose a food that had been grown without pesticides and unnatural fertilizer?  I feel that industrialized organic foods are still a superior good compared with processed foods.  The real question comes into play when considering the other factors such as the price and environmental factors.       

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