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The Great Food Debate: Organic vs. Local Food
Let's face it. We have to make many decisions when it comes to deciding what and where to buy food. Health conscious consumers often view organic food as the healthier option. Those accustomed to the mainstream offerings expect organic versions to be the healthier choice thinking caring farmers who have the consumer's best interests at heart produced them. Not necessarily.
Corporate giants have bought many of the smaller organic food companies that originally valued people's health and were founded on eco-friendly principles. Big food companies are now mainly interested in getting a slice of the "organic pie." As consumer interest in organic foods continues to gain momentum in the United States, organic agriculture and food production is becoming a lucrative business for food companies who are churning out an ever widening array of organic food products.
Organic food only makes up 2.5% of U.S. food sales, but it is the fastest growing segment of the market. It reached nearly $14 billion in 2005, up from $6 billion in 2000.
Some organic standards are too loose in the United States, and big food companies are scrambling to establish organic "farms" and feedlots to make some extra money.
Organic farming has become more commercialized. "Big Organic" firms now use the same industrial-size farming and long-distance shipping methods as conventional agribusinesses. When organic foods are purchased at supermarkets, those items must be refrigerated and transported over long distances, consuming as much fossil fuel as conventional foods. Organic has strayed from its eco-friendly roots and has gone mainstream.
What should we, as consumers, do if we want to make sure our food is produced in sustainable, environmentally friendly ways that are also good for our health? For food enthusiasts and gourmands, "local" is the new "organic." "Local" is the new ideal that promises healthier bodies and a healthier planet.
Local foods are those grown within a 100-mile radius (some say even up to 225 miles) on small farms. While not all local foods are certified organic due to the extensive paperwork and fees involved, many local farmers practice sustainable growing techniques and use minimal synthetic fertilizers and chemicals (i.e. pesticides). Visit your local farmers' market and ask the farmers about their growing practices - you may be pleasantly surprised by their answers.
Erika Ichinose Pijai, MS, RD, CDN, is a Registered Dietitian with a Masters of Science degree in Nutrition Education from Columbia University. She is the Program Coordinator for the Farmers' Market Nutrition Program at Cornell University Cooperative Extension-NYC, where she trains and supervises both staff and volunteers to conduct paperless Nutrition Curriculum and cooking demonstrations featuring locally grown, fresh produce at farmers' markets across New York City.
