The Importance Of Organics

Over the last few months I have been spending a lot of time defending the reasons why we should purchase organically grown food over "conventionally" grown food. It may be a good time to visit the underlying reasoning behind this plea, as to not confuse the subject by emotional sermon.

One of the most popular complaints about purchasing organic, ethically-raised or local foods is what is perceived to be prohibitive cost. I'd like to expand this conversation as much as possible, discussing what prohibitive means and equate costs of other things in lieu of quality food.

There are people who suffer from true prohibitive cost of organic food, no doubt. This series is not aimed at them:  both boutique foods and food deserts are very real hurdles to comprehend. Boutique foods place importance on excess and food deserts lack accessibility. In fact, they are simply two sides of the same coin.

This article, and those that follow the same thread, are not intended to dismiss the true prohibitive nature of inaccessibility or superfluous commodity; rather, the intent is to discuss which items are most important to buy organic and why for those who think they cannot afford it -- in reality -- can.

This series is not meant to be written nor read in an information vacuum. We're looking to find the best solution for everyone, both wealthy and poor - and how our actions affect the global economy as well as the local.

To start off the series we can discuss some principles of ethical food procurement.

First, one must decide if he cares enough to take the extra time to learn about his actions. We can safely assume anyone reading this article cares enough. Our job is to gently explain without proselytizing to those who either don't care or don't know why it is important.

Second, we have to recognize clearly that in our global economy, every single action we put forth reverberates globally. We call it the ripple effect; most everyone is familiar with the analogy.

Thirdly, we need to determine what action we can take consistently. Inconsistent action is still action, but the longevity of consistent action is more beneficial to the whole foods movement than sporadic attempts at grand gestures. I say this only from my own experience that small steps, when compiled over time, make the biggest differences with the greatest ease of transition.

I truly hope that this is a discussion between activists and non-activists, people who support genetically modified foods and people who don't, people who don't understand the effects of their actions and the hypersensitive.  The middle way is the sustainable way, and the sustainable way is our goal.

Photo credit: Keri Marion