21st This Week, Readings Focus Organic Agriculture.

¶ … 21st This week, readings focus organic agriculture. Organic agriculture a solution costs industrial agriculture… In addition, read choices eating local ( possibly supporting industrial agriculture) versus eating organic ( possibly supporting a farmer Chile).

Department of Agriculture contends that organic food amounted to 2-3% of the American market in 2010 (Kluger). There is an argument revolving around the issue of organic options vs. industrial food on a local basis, the former being largely perceived as more expensive, less available, yet healthier. This paper is focused on presenting the major distinctions between these two alternatives and venture to find a consensus from a local point-of-view, based on the accounts of two early articles from the Time magazine.

Jeffrey Kluger claims that the two major drawbacks of the American food system are the oversupply of meat and processed products, which act as prerequisites for the nation's increasing obesity rate and hormonal imbalances (2010). From this perspective, organic food topples industrial agriculture because farm-bred cows fed with grass produce chemical-free milk and make for less fat percentage and more lineoleic fatty acids in their meat when compared with cattle raised in feed-lots. What is more, previously grass-fed beef seems to be richer in omega 3 fatty acids than grain-fed beef, and these acids allegedly benefit human cognitive functions and restrict any future probability of cancer, arthritis or cardiovascular diseases. In spite of these findings, beef industry representatives insist that they have yet to determine the overall ideal nutritional balance, and further clinical studies have yet to quantify the admitted non-organic deficit in vital micronutrients such as folic acid, iron, copper, manganese, antioxidants and phenolic acids (Kluger, 2010).

It would be important to emphasize that organic food is not completely devoid of chemicals and dangers. As Kluger's article has it, a great deal of nutrient value pertains to the quality of the soil where both organic and conventional crops are grown (2010). Although growth hormones are forbidden, antibiotics are still condoned and a less toxic array of biopesticides is widely employed on organic crops, hence proper washing and peeling of all fruits and vegetables would be indicated. In terms of chemicals administered to livestock, free-range use of antibiotics stands out due to its association with the transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus to human caretakers, particularly in hog farms. In addition, organic biopesticides are known for their long-term persistence in the soil where they have been used (2010). Yet, as a 2007 article has it, science did not single out conventional pesticides as decisively harmful to humans (Cloud), even if more recent reports indicate that they are responsible for a large-scale eradication of honeybees and might have a disastrous impact on the ecosystem in the long run. However, it is an acknowledged fact that organically groomed livestock present a lower incidence of salmonella and E. coli bacteria contamination than feedlot animals (Kluger, 2010).

The issue of organic and conventional foods in relation to local markets is expanded upon by John Cloud in Time magazine (2007). The author embarks on an exploratory journey for the purpose of understanding whether the priority of an average American consumer should be to rely on an ambiguously provisioned local market or to struggle to acquire strictly organic products of limited availability. A local organic culture would not be possible everywhere, since the climate's humidity varies across the country and a high level thereof requires the use of chemicals to keep bacteria and fungi at bay. Additionally, various regions produce different cultures and need to supply each other in order to maintain a wholesome market, and not only do organic transports from across large distances involve a fair amount of petrol to occur, which increases air pollution, but there is no guarantee that those products will reach destination in their innate fresh state (Cloud, 2007).