Over the last decade, a new fashion has swept the country: organic foods. Across America, organic markets like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's are popping up, offering a variety of organic produce, grass-fed beef, free-range eggs, and all natural cosmetics. People are turning to organic products, usually out of a desire to eat healthier, and are taking a stance in favor of conventional agriculture and meat products. Food markets such as Whole Foods do indeed feel more welcoming when you enter. Compared to most grocery and drug stores, you're greeted with warm lighting and earth-colored walls and floors, instead of fluorescent lights and linoleum floors. The meat section features elaborate detail, depicting pastoral settings of cows on vast open grazing fields and free-range chickens. Every item in the produce aisle traces back to where it was grown, and the "USDA Organic Certified" label is printed on almost everything. In this context, consumers have the feeling of eating a healthy alternative, without synthetic hormones, pesticides or GMOs. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. These foods do indeed come from certified organic farms, but these farms are not as strict on regulations as one might assume. In reference to these homey organic products and their origin, Michael Pollan, author of Omnivore's Dilemma, says: "They are organic in letter, not organic in spirit...if most organic consumers went to these places, they would feel like they were being ripped off. In the organic system there are many loopholes that allow them to sell less than organic products to the consumer. And we crack. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Today, we import more food products from around the world than ever before. We went from a time when spices were one of the most valuable commodities to a time when we could walk into our local grocery store and drug store and have at our fingertips everything we could want in the world entire. While this may seem like a dream come true compared to ancient times, it is not without serious consequences. The result is higher food prices, chemicals are being sprayed in massive quantities, from synthetic hormones to preservatives, and carbon emissions are reaching unprecedented levels, in part due to the use of fossil fuels. to transport these food products from all over the world. globe. It's not sustainable. Many see organic farming as a feasible way to remedy this mess. However, organic farming is not as different from regular farming as one might first think. Upon closer inspection, organic farming standards are not airtight and leave a lot of room for spraying harmful pesticides. The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) requires that these chemicals and pesticides come from a “natural source.” Take rotenone for example. Rotenone was a chemical used for decades to spray organic products. In her article Mythbusting 101: Organic Farming > Conventional Agriculture, Christie Wilcox writes: "Because it is naturally occurring, found in the roots and stems of a small number of subtropical plants, it hasbeen considered “safe” as well as “organic”. However, research has shown that rotenone is very dangerous because it kills by attacking mitochondria, the energy plants of all living cells. Rotenone has been linked to Parkinson's disease in rats and can also cause death in humans. This was allowed because of its “natural source,” but natural does not always mean healthy. These chemicals from a natural source are then lightly processed, if at all. The NOSB is an organization that also votes on proposed pesticides allowed for organic farming, so the list is constantly changing. Another troubling aspect of these chemicals is that the volume they are sprayed is not monitored by the government. Many of these chemicals are sprayed in large quantities, which can pose serious health risks to people and the environment. This is because these chemicals are often not as powerful as conventionally used pesticides. More of them are therefore needed to produce their appropriate effect. So what are these organic foods used for? The organic food market has grossed $52 billion in the last two years worldwide, so it's clear that it's generating profits. Are certified organic foods becoming widely available to offer the masses a healthy, ethical alternative, or are companies like Whole Foods painting these pretty pictures to make a profit? It could possibly be a mix of both. Organic foods are not bad, despite what it may seem, and are often a healthier alternative for consumers. However, these companies use a “supermarket style” to sell their products, making it easier to hide what is happening behind the scenes. As Michael Pollan says, “The supermarket pastoral is a most seductive literary form, seductive enough to survive in the face of a lot of uncomfortable facts. » To ensure a healthier organic market with more accessible information, the organic food market must have standards and more oversight from the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture). Currently, the USDA still allows some GMOs to be used in organic farming, but the screening process allows them to go unnoticed. USDA organizations like the National Organic Program (NOP) establish regulations for organic foods, grant certificates, and conduct investigations when certified organic farmers are suspected of violating the code. But the level of regulation that actually exists is extremely lenient. This makes the organic label misleading, as the product is processed with substances that are not truly organic. Once an organic farmer is certified organic, they must adhere to a production plan. This plan is then approved by a certifying biological agent. Once certification is granted, a farmer cannot be penalized for unintentional use of GMOs or inorganic pesticides on plants – provided that use is unintentional. This in turn creates a loophole for farmers to fall through, allowing them to use these inorganic substances as long as it is “unintentional” in nature. The products they market can then be labeled organic even though this statement lacks truth and their names are not tarnished. If suspicions arise that an organic farmer is abusing his production plan and intentionally using.