Organic VS natural

Which should we use? Organic or natural, local or organic, it is one of the soap boxes I will always stand on and spout my opinion on what I believe is true, and right.

Organic... A common compliant, and one of my own, is that organic foods are too expensive and the cost doesn't seem real. Most of us do not know how much we are already paying for the "inexpensive" conventional foods, and this is before we have even walked into a super market. But when I break it down on how much the "inexpensive" foods cost here is kind of what it looks like.

Agricultural fuel paid by our taxes, 22 billion
Direct farm bill subsidies for corn and wheat 3 billion
Treatment of food related illness 10 billion
Agriculture chemical clean up cost 17 billion
Collateral cost of pesticides use 8 billion
Cost of nutrients lost to erosion 20 billion
Equals to about 80 BILLION

80 billion equals to about $725 per household each year. That sticker price buys our "inexpensive" foods.

But why organic then? Organic practices build rather than destroy or deplete the soil by using manure and cover crops. They don't use pesticides and herbicides, instead using biological pest controls and a little old fashion weed pulling here and there. Have a bevy of different crops, and manage and rotate them from year to year.



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