Is Organic food a scam? Shouldn't it be cheaper?!
1) no USDA subsidies. conventional commodities get around a trillion dollars in subsidies each year. Organic gets zip. most subsidies are dependent on GMO and chemical use and if you don't use one or both you don't get USDA dollars.
2) Human labor is a lot more expensive than chemicals, especially in the USA
3) Supply and demand. There is far greater demand for organics than there are organic farms growing food (though this is changing as more and more farms world wide go organic).
4) Certification-this costs a lot in time. daily records must be kept and compiled into an annual application for certification that is filed with USDA. Cert. fees can also be high -up to $5000 for big operations.
5) yields tend to be less on newer organic farms (organic/transitional for under 7 years). But once the soils are healthy organic farms consistently out produce conventional farms especially the smaller diversified organic farms and especially in less than ideal conditions such as drought
All that said, I have noticed since petrol hit over $90 a barrel that produce prices for conventional fruits and veggies are often higher than organic. i think we will soon see organic produce being less than conventional. Organic processed foods will likely stay high because they can keep prices high but we should be staying away from junk food even if it is organic junk food.
Answers: Some reasons Organic costs more.
1) no USDA subsidies. conventional commodities get around a trillion dollars in subsidies each year. Organic gets zip. most subsidies are dependent on GMO and chemical use and if you don't use one or both you don't get USDA dollars.
2) Human labor is a lot more expensive than chemicals, especially in the USA
3) Supply and demand. There is far greater demand for organics than there are organic farms growing food (though this is changing as more and more farms world wide go organic).
4) Certification-this costs a lot in time. daily records must be kept and compiled into an annual application for certification that is filed with USDA. Cert. fees can also be high -up to $5000 for big operations.
5) yields tend to be less on newer organic farms (organic/transitional for under 7 years). But once the soils are healthy organic farms consistently out produce conventional farms especially the smaller diversified organic farms and especially in less than ideal conditions such as drought
All that said, I have noticed since petrol hit over $90 a barrel that produce prices for conventional fruits and veggies are often higher than organic. i think we will soon see organic produce being less than conventional. Organic processed foods will likely stay high because they can keep prices high but we should be staying away from junk food even if it is organic junk food.
they can be a scam since the FDA does not regulate what is considered organic and what is not. Basically is should be something grown without pesticides, preservatives and chemicals...completely natural. But since it is the hype in Hollywood it is going to cost more...go figure!
it shoodnt be cheaper cuz its probably harder 2 grow or sumthing
True organic foods cost more to produce.
Because they don't use pesticides the success rate isn't so good because of bugs and disease so they have to charge more to make a proffit. I would much prefer organic but most of the time I just can't afford it.
It's not a scam. The reason for it being so expensive has to do with the way the crops need to be rotated.
Organic foods has no chemicals so it cost more to manufacture and is not a substitute for real fruits. There's no real research to prove that these foods are actually as healthy as the claim to be.