Why Organic?

Section 1: Proposal
As an international student in United States by alone without my family, It is really
difficult to eat well. Every time I go to the market, even though there are various kind of foods, I
prefer more convenience food like frozen products. Also, when I buy some stuff like chicken or
beef, I choose cheaper one. In a way, I think that cheap materials often mean poor quality goods.
But I dont really care much about the quality of food in here because I dont want to spend
many time and money at the market. So, I didnt think deeply about the term ORGANIC.
Image of Organic for me was just Eco-Friendly, but expensive. After I saw the Food Inc,
and through this research paper, I am going to think deeply about Organic. So first, what is
Organic? By the USDA National Organic Program, Organic define as follows: Organic is a
labeling term that indicates that the food or other agricultural product has been produced
through approved methods. These methods integrate cultural, biological, and mechanical
practices that foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity.
Synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, irradiation, and genetic engineering may not be used.
Producing without pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, organic also contribute to cleaner
environment. Even if Organic product is expensive than conventional product, people who prefer
organic products are those who think organic is good for health. As we generally think, the
reason that Organic product is expensive is because those are better for us, but the organic
product we can find easily in market is not always good for our health.
Section 2: Process

First thing I did to start my research was find a definition of Organic. I usually find
definition on the Wikipedia, but Wikipedia was not credible site for research paper. I could find
credibility definition at the USDA: United States Department of Agriculture website. There
were many information of organic agriculture. I learned some basic concepts of organic and also
could know about organic certification by USDA website.
Second, I made a research plan on my blog. Thinking of why I got interested on this
topic, I made some research questions first. Here are possible research questions of organic
which I made. Is Organic products necessarily better for us? Can we trust the claims made by
organic farmers that their food has fewer chemicals than conventional food? What are the
reasons that organic products are more expensive than conventional ones? Then next, I made a
thesis statement and then think about my purpose of this paper and audience of this research.
Third, I searched where to find credible research paper sources for my research paper.
The best credible sources could find in library. But the convenient way to find sources is by
online. It says Encyclopedia Britannica and InfoPlease.com are good sources to gather
material but avoid Wikipedia. Also I found that online scholarly databases, newspapers and
magazines are rich sources of information.
Next, I gather some article and newspaper for the answer of my research question. After I
felt I had enough of information, I finally started my I-Search Paper based on my main thesis.
Section 3: Paper
As mentioned above, Organic product is the one that produce without synthetic
fertilizers, sewage sludge or pesticides. Lately, as growing of health consciousness, there has
been an increasing preference for organic foods. According to Nutrition Business Journal,

Organic food sales in the United States have increased gradually, from $11billion in 2004 to
approximately $27billion in 2012. Finally sales of organic products in United States jumped to
$35.1 billion in 2013. This Journal adds the survey of organic industry from the Organic Trade
Association (OTA). Laura Batcha, executive director and CEO of OTA, said "The U.S. organic
market is experiencing strong expansion, with organic food and farming continuing to gain in
popularity. Consumers are making the correlation between what we eat and our health, and that
knowledge is spurring heightened consumer interest in organic products."
It is true that more and more people have become interested in organic product, but also it
is still expensive to buy an organic product for some people. Based on data collected by Colby
college students, the average cost of organic items are higher than non-organic. They report The
mean cost for organic items surveyed was 68 percent higher than for non-organic, although
organic brown rice was cheaper on average; and organic oatmeal cost an average of 16 cents
per ounce, versus 17 cents for non-organic, a 6 percent difference.
Then, why is average of organic food more expensive than conventional food? According
to Organic Farming Research Foundation, the organic price tag more closely reflects the true
cost of growing the food: substituting labor and intensive management for chemicals, the health
and environmental costs of which are borne by society. Without using of synthetic pesticides
and chemicals, producing food cant be faster and efficiently. More workers need to hire for
producing organic product than conventional one. So, one of the reason is labor. More labor
makes the high price of organic. Second main reason is related with supply and demand. For
now, technological innovation for organic produce is not as big as conventional one. People who
want to buy organic food have grown year on year until now. But the organic farms cannot
produce much product faster. It means that the demand for organic is greater than the supply so

the cost cannot be low. Even if it is expensive for buying organic for now, Food and Agriculture
Organization suggested, As demand for organic food and products is increasing, technological
innovations and economies of scale should reduce costs of production, processing, distribution
and marketing for organic produce.
But here is something we have to address. Is buying organic worth the cost? Is organic
always healthier? A new study by Stanford researchers found that there are no big differences
between organic and conventionally grown foods. They concluded that fruits and vegetables
labeled organic were, on average, no more nutritious than their conventional counterparts,
which tend to be far less expensive. Nor were they any less likely to be contaminated by
dangerous bacteria like E. coli. They also reported there are no obvious health advantages to
organic food. Conventional fruits and vegetables did have more pesticide residue, but the
levels were almost always under the allowed safety limits, the scientist of Stanford said.
However, the argument which Stanford researcher insists is still up for debate. By
scientist at Washington State University did find that Organic fruits contained more vitamin C
than conventional ones. Their research shows that the organic strawberry farms produced
higher quality fruit and that their higher quality soils may have greater microbial functional
capability and resilience to stress. These findings justify additional investigations aimed at
detecting and quantifying such effects and their interactions.
Section 4: Ponder
This was my first time to write research paper. I didnt have any information about
research paper before. But for now, even if it is not perfect yet, I got the concept of doing it.
Also, by doing this research paper, I learned a lot about my topic: Organic. But, still not enough.

I should know more about what I am eating now, and what I will eat future for my health. My
future research question is here. What is the future of food production in America?

Works cited
"Agricultural Marketing Service - Home." Agricultural Marketing Service - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec.
2014. http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/

"Price Differences: Organic Versus Non-Organic; Store Versus Farmers' Market." Price
Differences: Organic Versus Non-Organic; Store Versus Farmers' Market. N.p., n.d. Web. 01
Dec.2014.
http://www.mofga.org/Publications/MaineOrganicFarmerGardener/Fall2011/PriceDifferences/ta
bid/1966/Default.aspx
"FAQ." Organic Agriculture: Why Is Organic Food More Expensive than Conventional Food? N.p., n.d.
Web. 03 Dec. 2014. http://www.fao.org/organicag/oa-faq/oa-faq5/en/
Chang, Kenneth. "Stanford Scientists Cast Doubt on Advantages of Organic Meat and Produce." The
New York Times. The New York Times, 03 Sept. 2012. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/science/earth/study-questions-advantages-of-organic-meatand-produce.html?ref=health