Organic vs. Industrial Food

Whenever you buy food, you have to make a decision: Healthy or cheap, organic or industrial. If organic food wouldn't be that expensive, the decision would be easy. Everybody would just consume organic food. But unfortunately not everybody can afford it. Sometimes it looks like healthy food is becoming a luxury good. Or are some people just trying to earn big cash with organic food labels? Find more nutrition related topics at nutrition main.

Description: Organic vs. Industrial Food

  • In the rush to produce more and more food for the people on this little planet, chemicals came into play.
  • Farmers try to sell the highest possible percentage of their harvest and therefore often use pesticides, gen-manipulated corn, chemicals etc. The farmer's investment in pesticides, hormones, anti-biotics and chemicals usually pays off. They earn more, their fruits look better and costumers are happy with huge pest fee fruits and vegetables.
  • If a farmer says no to chemicals and pesticides, he runs risk of losing a harvest because of pests etc. and if he doesn't feed hormones, his animals grow slower and cost more. The only way to compensate this cost is a higher consumer price for organic food. You can't ask everybody to pay more, and a lot of people would starve to death without the use of chemical cocktails which protect harvests against pests. But the rich want to eat healthy and somebody has to produce food apart from the food for the rabble. In many countries people have no choice. When I lived in South America and China I often had to hear that only rich countries use chemicals. But when you walk to the back yard of a farm, guess what you find. The same plastic bags you find behind most european and american farms. But to be honest, I am convinced that world hunger would be much worse without pesticides etc. and I was happy I was not forced to pay european prices for the food when I lived in China.
  • But now that you know how farmers have to plan their cash budget, guess what a farmer would do if he was in financial problems.
  • Almost every time you eat something, you also consume pesticides, flavors, etc. These substances are added in order to produce and sell more efficient and it's not a secret that pesticides and flavors are not good for us. Fortunately there are strict rules for the use of chemicals. Even if you only buy organic food, you are consuming these substances. But the bar is set at a different height and you are consuming less harmful substances.
  • So how bad is industrial food?
    There are maximum residue limits for all pesticides and possible chemicals. The department of health determines how much of each substance is ok. These limits are set to be compatible for everybody, but as you know laws change from time to time. Sometimes they find out that a substance causes cancer or a new disease after thousands of people consumed it in excess for many years. Just remember the BSE crysis. A law is changed, then a fem month beef sanctions and the case is closed. Eating organic food lowers the risk of getting hit by a similar scenario, but it's not a 100% guarantee.
  • However, the risk of getting seriously sick from cheap food is not "THAT" high. As long as you read food labels and try to avoid chemical cocktails, you can eat cheap and healthy at the same time. If you are eating organic food only, you are still consuming unhealthy substances. The limits are just set a bit lower and the risk that your food will kill you, is lower. Your body will have to deal with less unhealthy substances and therefore work a bit better and more efficient.

Advice: Organic vs. Industrial Food

  • If you want to live healthy, you shouldn't philosophize about healthy food if you are still smoking, drinking 10 cups of coffee/day or drinking. Quit your worst habits first. You can't start building a house by cleaning the floor.
  • Buying organic food can easily come 3 times more expensive than normal food.
  • Try to eat natural. If you have the choice between a protein bar and a real meal with the same amount of protein, take the real food. If you don't have time for a meal, but need your protein, take the protein bar. Anyway, a protein bar can never be as unhealthy as a coffee, a cigarette, a chocolate or potato chips. So don't let a smoker tell you, your protein bar is unhealthy.
  • The only way to be sure your nutrition is 100% organic, is growing everything at home. Even in this case there is a residual risk of chemicals in the earth or the water. So take it easy and don't fear the worst. Don't be fanatic.