Super Market Debates; Organic Vs. Conventional

What do you see when you go to the super market? When you go into the produce aisle you see so many fruits and vegetables, in the meat section you find a variety of meats and cuts. These products are just some of the things undergoing a change. No longer do you have to wonder what goes on at the farms that grow our apples and oranges. Also, with these newly revived techniques, aspirin isn’t the first thing you reach for to relieve your headache. In comparison to Conventional produce, advocating Organic products may seem to deplete your bank account. Organic produce is being grown just as they were in the stories of our youth. The only question is which is better; Organic or Conventional?

Organic produce is merely the way you grew your fruits and vegetables in your parent’s garden when you were young. No fertilizers, pesticides, or plant-growth regulators/stimulators; just water, sunlight and a “tiny bit of love”. You would think that this is the way that farmers are growing their produce every year but it’s far from your grandmother’s home-grown strawberries. In reality, farmers put more chemicals into their produce than “love” to make them grow into a seamless and perfect product at harvest.

Conventional Produce is defined as fruits and vegetables that you normally find at that super market that you regularly shop at. Conventional means standardized or normal product that is used or bought. These products look eatable but not all the ingredients that are involved with this perfect recipe are listed. Under the labels and signs, you never see the pesticides and artificial fertilizers that were added. Nor do you see that the products were genetically enhanced.

The reason behind this controversy is because of profit. It’s not easy to have a successful crop every year so farmers ensure that success by adding those chemicals that seem harmless to the consumer. Also, in order to maintain the field and to ensure the safety for the crops; money is taken away from the farmer’s pocket. It’s like when a company builds a computer from scratch to sell to a consumer. You need money in order to make or buy the parts, and then you sell the product for more than you bought it for to gain more money. Profit is the amount of money you gain aside from manufacturing costs.

The ages of the surveyors varied greatly. The majority of the surveyors were 15-18 and 36-45. Many of the surveyors were high school students and college students. These surveys were administered to fellow class mates, college students, educators, and Providence Public School Department employees.

Depending on whether or not you have children is an important aspect of an Organic diet. According to Organic Food News Quarterly, “Children's immature and developing organs, brains, and detoxification and immune systems, plus their larger intake of food per kilo of body weight, combine to make them even more susceptible to toxins than adults.” Out of the 20 surveyed people, 57% of them have children. That means that the organic products available are beneficial to a child’s growth, especially newborns to toddlers. One condition that is frequent is otitis, an infection in the middle part of the ear space causing pain, dizziness, and partial loss of hearing. Next to the common cold, this is a frequent condition among children from ages 2- 4 years old. This could be prevented through well-balanced organic diets.

The familiarity of Organics was a toss up between the surveyors. 58% of the people were familiar with Organic products. Out of that percentage, eight percent of them did not know about one of the leading food brands Nature’s Promise. Also, 50% of the people preferred to spend more money for organic products while the other half preferred to save money. Even with preservatives, artificial sweeteners, colorings and flavorings, MSG (monosodium glutamate), hydrogenated fat, and phosphoric acid; they still decide to save money. It seems like people don’t care about what they buy as long as it’s eatable.

Today, our fruits are like candy. You would never think that you can find that the farmers add color, artificial sweeteners, hydrogenated fat, and phosphoric acid. Those are some of the ingredients in Wonka Nerds© and may not have any side effects now but it may be possible in the long run. Amazingly, only 14% of the surveyors voted that regular-grown products are just as safe as any other product on the market. 41% of the people I surveyed said that they would consider switching to organic products knowing that those ingredients are taking residence in our foods. Also, another 41% thought that it didn’t matter if those things were in it or not.

Morbid obesity is a chronic epidemic that has taken control of our country as other countries make a fool of us. United Kingdom, Australia and the United States are the most obese countries in the world. In accordance, those are the countries that have the most imported goods. In theory, if we decrease the importation of foreign goods, then we can decrease the obesity of those countries. Out of all the surveyors, there was an equal amount of results. 33% of the voters believe that decreasing importation will be a solution to obesity. The other 66% percent held no opinion against such problem.

As of December of 2006, the FDA approved the safety of cloned meat allowing it to be sold globally in local super markets. Half of those voters stated that they were aware of this but half of them did not believe that it made a difference in their lives. The other half were not aware and again, half of them said that it would not make a difference.

In a survey orchestrated by MSNBC and re-orchestrated to allow the surveyors to vote, the future of cloned meat products were determined. Those who were not aware of the long-term averaged to about 83 %. Many of the surveyors (approx. 16%) thought that cloned products aren’t harmful to our food chain and our bodies. The other 8% were unsure of the effects but were sure about putting a warning label on the cloned products.

Synthetic fertilizers and growth stabilizers are used frequently in more than 50% of the crops grown in the United States and all over the world. “If you want a big red tomato you can only find them in farmer’s markets”, said Janie Larotta, a vegetarian graduate of Rhode Island College. It seems that crops are not grown to full capacity and are treated to look like the perfect fruits and vegetable that you see in your local super market. 33% percent of the surveyors thought that the abolishment of chemicals such as synthetic fertilizers was needed. The other 67% thought that it wasn’t needed or they were unsure of the results of abolishing such chemicals.

In current time, we have been able to create medicine for everything. Headaches, common colds, allergies, high blood pressure, ADD and even ADHD. In the UK, researchers found that organic products are a healthy alternative to medications used for ADHD. Children on this diet are less likely to be hyperactive than children that are using the medication. 25% percent of the surveyors thought that medication is the only way to relieve such conditions. The other 75% were ether unsure or they thought it was a good idea. Theoretically, if organic products were used in a diet for children then we wouldn’t have a problem with the human body become immune to such medicines in the long run.

So the question is; which product is really better? The surveyors thought it was a “toss-up.” There were nearly half that believed that organics were good for the human body and the other half still considered conventional products to be safe. “Why else would they put them (organic product) in super markets? It’s not like the farmers would want to poison us, right?” Mackay Miller, facilitator of the District Wide Student Government, said in an interview Thursday afternoon. In conclusion, Conventional products win overall because of “common sense”. Just like Mr. Miller said, if Conventional products are really unhealthy for the human body then why would they put them in the aisles of our super market?