Introduction
The need to have ‘green’ or ‘sustainable’ shows the need for an organization to promote economic development while at the same time conserving the environment. A green or organic product as sometimes called is a type of product that has little or no impact on the environment and also less impact on human health as compared to the traditional product.
A product can never be 100% green, but there are standards which need to be met, in order for it to be described as a green product. A conventional product on the other hand are developed using most of the artificial means of production to yield huge production. For instance in the food industry, large scale farmers use artificial means such as fertilizers and pesticides which actually lead to mass production of the final product (isustainableEarth).
This research focuses on food which can be produced using both organic and conventional means. The report shall further discuss their effect on the environment based on safety; rate of pollution; production processes involved; carbon emissions if any; costs of developing each; possibility of recycling; fair-trade and finally consumer awareness of the two products in question(isustainableEarth).
This report shall further provide the outcome which shall prove beneficial to most buyers of the products and manufacturers of such products. Manufacturers will be in a position to improve on their production methods with the purpose of protecting the environment by making sure they produce environment friendly food stuffs. Additionally, the report shall help the buyers of these products who shall be in a position to choose from the two varieties, based on the information presented.
Organic and Conventional Foods
Organic foods also called green foods are produced are the type of foods produced without using any form of fertilizers or pest sides and that they comply to the standards established by the national governments in place on the best practices of organic farming (soil Association). Conventional farming is unfriendly to the environment due to the heavy usage of the chemicals and fertilizers to plant and produce much yield. There effects and benefits are discussed as follows.
Safety of Green (Organic) Foods vs. Conventional Foods
The safety of food is determined by the effects it brings to the person consuming them. According to Lairon (2010), in recent years, most diseases related to food intake have risen and governments are now funding hospitals to educate people on healthy diets. People are being educated on the type of food intake they are supposed to eat to reduce the rate of acquiring such diseases for instance cancer. Most people have resorted to healthy living, which insists on eating organic foods which are natural and free from toxins.
He describes organic foods as highly nutritious because they contain drier matter and minerals which are useful for human growth and development. Winter & Davis (2006) asserts that, consumers found it unsafe to use conventional foods because of the pesticides used and the perceived food residues that come with them which are not fit for consumption. He gives a statistic of a growth in the consumption of organic food in the United States for the past 2 decades which has risen by 20% from 1990 to settle at $ 13.8 billion in 2005, showing a sign that conventional foods are not safe.
Cost of Producing Organic food vs Conventional foods
Production costs of organic foods are high as compared to the conventional counterparts. This high costs come in a variety of ways in which among them, the higher production costs attached higher costs of labour and manure, Secondly, the higher demand for organic foods makes them quite expensive because of the taste and preference of the consumers. Conventional foods on the other hand have grown cheaper and cheaper due to the shift of the consumer preference.
Thirdly, organic farmers use crop rotation as a way of keeping their land healthy and fertile, at the same time preventing weed growth while conventional farmers use every bit of space available to grow the most profitable type of crop. Another reason for high costs are the post handling costs that come with separation of organic foods from conventional foods during transportation, the low quantity production is expensive to transport and finally such farms are usually located far from major cities which in turn increases shipping costs (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations).
Consumer Awareness on Green (Organic Foods) Vs Conventional Foods
The current population has had a growing affinity for organic food which has prompted numerous studies to be done on different aspects of both organic and conventional foods. There has been growing awareness on the benefit of eating organic foods as compared to conventional foods which they term as having too much chemicals. Hospitals are now spending much of their time educating people on healthy living, under this, the need to eat the right type of food is emphasized and this is believed to reduce the rate of disease infection by a significant margin.
Though there has been increased education on the different types of foods, some consumers still do not understand the wider view of organic food quality characteristics due to many standards and procedures that have been set by governments. This makes them expensive hence some consumers are held back from purchasing them. This is seen where consumers compare the prices of the two commodities to establish a given friendly price differentials rather than looking at the product in itself hence they end up settling for the conventional type of food which is cheaper.
Fair Trade of Both Green (Organic) Food vs. Conventional Food
Fair-trade focuses on farmers in the developing world who need to be paid sustainable prices for their commodities in order to promote conventional trade which doesn’t discriminate against the poor (Raynolds 2000). Majority of the developing nations have good soils and agricultural systems that efficiently meet the needs of organic farming but the problem is that most of them are non-certified. Non-certification means practicing organic farming by intent and not as a compulsory economic activity.
Additionally, farmers located in places far from the city are also entitled to fair price. These fair prices are meant to cater for all costs they incur since the practice of organic farming is expensive. On the other hand, fair prices on conventional goods are dictated by economic forces of demand and supply, as said earlier, conventional goods are produced on large scale hence many players in the market. This calls for the need to offer good prices to consumers so that they stand to benefit (Food and Agriculture of the United Nations Organization).
Pollution Effect to the Environment
Conventional farming generally has a negative effect to the environment. This is because of the farming methods applied which involve use of pesticides and fertilizers to till their land in order to produce high yields meant for the commercial market. These pesticide have destroyed many biological agents that take place by themselves and has caused water pollution for a long period of time to the environment, due to the continuous increase of pesticides and acids in the runoff water. According to Naik & Prasad (2006), these effects accumulate residues of pesticides that are extensively used which could in turn lead to health problems such as, nerve damage, cancer and birth problems.
On the other hand, organic farming is environmental friendly and there is no use of modern pesticides in form of fertilizers. Instead farmers use animal manure which is environmental friendly though the amount of output is not large and the production costs are usually high as compared to conventional method of farming.
Conclusion
To sum up, for sustainable environment protection, environmental friendly types of farming procedures need to be adopted. These methods of farming produce organic foods which are also good for human consumption since they reduce health risks involved. Though in the 21st century, the population is growing fast and there is need for sustainable food production to cater for the ever increasing population making it necessary to adopt the conventional methods of farming, which are also cheaper when it comes to affordability of the common citizens. This gives the idea that all this forms of food production should be analyzed and practiced to increase food security.
It is also discussed that organic foods are safer as compared to conventional foods because of they are natural and contain no or very little samples of chemicals. Conventional foods have a lot of chemicals used during planting and preventing pest invasion. It is also observed that the prices of organic foods are expensive due to the initial costs that come with them from planning through to transportation in the final market. Unlike conventional farming in which crops are grown in large scale and easily transported making them cheaper to the final consumer.
The consumers are also aware of the existence of the organic foods but some are not a. This is because of the complex standards that come with them and the need to buy on a premium basis makes some people to opt for the conventional ones since they have friendly prices.
There is need to provide fair trade to the producers of organic foods in order to encourage them to keep producing by giving them fair prices. This will enable them cater for their costs and remain with some income. Finally, though conventional means of food production are environmentally unfriendly, they are worthy practicing due to the benefits of food security and friendly prices that come with them.
References
Lairon, D. (2010). Nutritional quality and safety of organic food. A review. Agronomy for sustainable development, 30(1), 33-41.
Winter, C. K., & Davis, S. F. (2006). Organic foods. Journal of Food Science, 71(9), R117 R124.
Sahota, A. (2009). The global market for organic food & drink. The World of Organic Agriculture, Statistics and Emerging Trends.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved on 5th Novemebr 2014. From: http://www.fao.org/organicag/oa-faq/oa-faq5/en/
Yiridoe, E. K., Bonti-Ankomah, S., & Martin, R. C. (2005). Comparison of consumer perceptions and preference toward organic versus conventionally produced foods: a review and update of the literature. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 20(04), 193-205.
Raynolds, L. T. (2000). Re-embedding global agriculture: The international organic and fair trade movements. Agriculture and human values, 17(3), 297-309.
Renard, M. C. (2003). Fair trade: quality, market and conventions. Journal of rural studies, 19(1), 87-96.
Naik, S. N., & Prasad, R. (2006). Pesticide residue in organic and conventional food-risk analysis. Journal of Chemical Health and Safety, 13(6), 12-19.
isustainableEarth(n.d). Retrieved on 4th November, 2014. From:http://www.isustainableearth.com/green-products/what-is-a-green-product
Soil association. Retrieved on 5th November 2014.From: http://www.soilassociation.org/whatisorganic