Question

"Some people say organic or local food is more expensive, but is it really? With all these things, I've been learning about the food system, it seems to me that we can either pay the farmer, or we can pay the hospital. Now I know definitely which one I would choose."

Question: Do you agree or disagree with him? Why?

Answer 1

Yes, I agree with him. The debate here is between organic vs food made by using chemical fertilizers. There are many harmful effects of consuming food made by using chemical fertilizers or genetically modified (GM) food. GM corns have been found to develop liver and kidney toxicity when an experiment was conducted on rats. Conventional farmers use chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides on crops which when it rains, seep into the ground and contaminate our water also.

Whereas, on the other hand, organic food is produced without the use of any chemical fertilizers, thus having no negative effect on our health. But, since the organic farming is in its initial phase, the price of organic food may be high because of low supply. But then, it is the trade off between paying some extra to the farmer or paying to the hospital after getting ill by eating food made by using chemical fertilizers.

Obviously, it is wise and sustainable to prefer the first option of paying extra to the farmer and consuming organic food.