Thursday, September 24, 2015

Exploration Four: Fresh Response from Tanner

     I would essentially like to start to give a simple acknowledgement that everyone should see this film at some point in the future. What goes on in this film is extremely admirable and loaded with a ton of information. The biggest concept I drew out of the film 'Fresh' is that there are people within the system that generally care about what's happening to farming and rather than saying we should go back to the old way, they offer alternatives to include older techniques while producing foods at better rates, and change the game while respecting what farming originally was. The credibility of the film was derived based on what the farmers who were actually in the system were telling us, mostly because its something we need to know. We have to know that farming is a pure competition market and John Ikerd, and Agricultural Environmentalist teacher at the University of Missouri on quote noted, "Those that produce the most food, survive."
     The question I would like to arise is simply.... We see that organic food costs on average significantly more than what non-organic food on average costs, given that, is the price of organic foods worth the demand of it when it comes to paying that much more for it? Organic food is certainly better for you, but according to a poll conducted by a group of Colby college students by comparing prices at grocery stores that on average organic foods costs 68 percent more than non-organic foods. An interesting thing to think about in the discussion is not just the head on price, but a reasonable understanding as to why organic foods costs more, and determining whether the upgrade in capital is enough spark in demand to go towards organic foods. We have to understand that organic costs more because of the labor and land that it takes in order to grow these foods. Organic farms take much longer and the refrainment of chemicals and growth hormones is what makes these foods much better. Eating healthy and eating organic foods is a much higher expense and it is up to the individuals in the market that eating organic is a rational decision or an irrational decision.

Image result for spraying pesticides
In the process of spraying growth chemicals on a non-organic farm.
Source: http://www.mofga.org/Publications/MaineOrganicFarmerGardener/Fall2011/PriceDifferences/tabid/1966/Default.aspx

3 comments:

  1. I think that organic food is definitely worth the extra money, especially after seeing this documentary. While paying extra for your food now might not be pleasant, it still would be more pleasant than getting salmonella or Swine Flu or becoming obese or getting cancer from some of the chemicals used in factory farming. Also, if more people buy organic food, that supports those farmers who sill do things naturally so they can keep producing natural, healthy food for consumers to purchase.

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  2. I do think that Americans recognize the extra money for organic food but for most the extra money is not worth the healthier food. People want fast and cheap food. I think in order to get people to buy organic food more, more farmers need to produce organic food. I believe that if enough farmers are working organically then the industrialized system will not be able to compete because of their unhealthy and inefficient ways.

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  3. I completely agree with your point that everyone should see this movie. Just by watching this you will receive so much valuable information that could potentially change your eating habits and your life forever. Most americans are very uneducated on the food system and i believe that is one thing we should be taught in school because food is apart of every single persons life. Most people have no clue the harm they are causing their own body just by consuming processed food.

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