Thesis on "Organic Food"

Thesis 3 pages (1257 words) Sources: 16

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Organic Farming Methods: An Annotated Review Synthesis

The concept of organic food immediately conjures images of

responsible agricultural practice, non-chemical growing procedures and a

dedication to environmentally sound farming operations. However, the

literature review would reveal a multitude of perspectives that demonstrate

organic foods to be a debatable and nuanced subject. As many advocates as

exist in research and in practice, there are equally as many critics and

opponents to organic farming practices.

The text by Wellson (2006) is a suitable starting point as it

provides a general overview of the subject. Identifying organic food

industries as a growing consumer interest, Wellson takes an essentially

positive perspective on the subject, describing organic foods as offering

consumers a way of controlling the content of that which they consume.

This overview also demonstrates that organic farming is a substantial

business today, even to the extent that it undermines some of the

preconceptions which consumers hold of organic farming.

Namely, many disassociate organic farming from large corporate

agricultural operations, but an article by Pollan (2006) reveals that

organic farming is not the independent business context it once was.

Indeed, he denotes that "large-scale organic businesses, which have bought

up successful small organic producers, follow the logic of industry, 'the

tremendous gains in efficiency to be had when the irregularity of nature

can conform to the precision and control of a machine.'" (Pollan, 123) The

Pollan article reveals that organic farming is big-business and that many

of its farming practices, though not chemically or mechanically intervened,

may not constitute ethical treatment of animals by the perspective of many

consumers.

This is reinforced in the article by Raynolds (2004), which also

describes organic farming from the perspective that it is an important

economic enterprise with attachments to many of the same entities that

drive conventional agriculture. Particularly, Raynolds identifies global

trade practices as having been impacted by the cultural sway in many

countries toward organic practices. As a result, Raynolds indicates,

"organic certification proves central to network governance, shaping

product specifications, production parameters, and enterprise

participation." (Raynolds, 725)

The enormity of this business is further supported by the global

economic report provided by Willer et al (2008), which describes the

business as robust. This report placed international sales at $38.6

billion in 2006, a rate doubled since that reported in 2000. (16) A report

by Dmitri & Greene (2002) indicates that demand for organic goods in the

United States consumer market drives much of this growth. Perhaps one of

the primary reasons for this is the evidence which suggests that U.S.

regulations on agricultural operations and imports both do not provide

sufficient protection to the health of consumers. So denotes an article by

Raeburn, which indicates that a pesticide called Dichlorvos has been

demonstrated to negatively impact the human nervous system but is still

used heavily in growing operations.

By contrast, an article by Goldberg (2000) takes a distinctly

negative perspective on this rising prominence, citing organic operations

as both fundamentally inefficient and designed to cater to an economically

elite demographic of consumers. Goldberg argues that the outlets to

organic farming operations on the scale discussed by Pollan and Raynolds

benefits only "an affluent, upper middle-class consumer that can afford

their $3/pound tomatoes. They are major contributors to Greenpeace, which

has been running the anti-genetic engineering campaign." (Goldberg, 1)

This latter point also cites the political and economic implications of

organic farming in contrast to those industries supported by large-scale

corporate farming.

Indeed, as the article published by the Mayo Clinic Staff (2008)

tells, organic farming operations eschew such commercially important

industries as chemical fertilizer, pesticide and livestock growth hormones

in order to promote purer food products. The Mayo Clinic article provides

a number of indicators to differentiate between the results of traditional… READ MORE

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