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From Yahoo Shine, this is a great article about the higher costs associated with organic food.
"You might think organic food would cost less than
conventional food since the production is spared the cost of the chemicals,
synthetic pesticides, and antibiotics. Yet organic products typically cost 20
percent to 100 percent more than their conventionally produced equivalents.
In
an economy that is sluggishly recovering from a recession, that's a price tag
many Americans can't afford, even though the majority of them would prefer to
buy organic. If you're part of that majority, you've probably wondered what's
behind that cost. Here are the top 10 factors contributing to the high price of
organic food:
1. No chemicals = more labor
Conventional farmers use
all of those chemicals and synthetic pesticides because they end up reducing
the cost of production by getting the job done faster and more efficiently.
Without them, organic farmers have to hire more workers for tasks like
hand-weeding, cleanup of polluted water, and the remediation of pesticide
contamination.
The Organic Farming Research Foundation explained it well:
"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."
2. Demand
overwhelms supply
Retail sales of organic food rose from $3.6 billion in
1997 to $21.1 billion in 2008, according to the USDA, and 58 percent of
Americans claim they prefer to eat organic over non-organic food. However,
organic farmland only accounts for 0.9 percent of total worldwide farmland, and
organic farms tend to produce less than conventional farms. Conventional farms
have the farmland and the supply to keep costs down since manufacturers are
able to reduce costs when producing a product in larger quantities.
3.
Higher cost of fertilizer for organic crops
Sewage sludge and chemical
fertilizers might not be something you want in your food, but conventional
farmers use them because they don't cost much and are cheap to transport.
Organic farmers eschew these inexpensive solutions in order to keep their crops
natural and instead use compost and animal manure, which is more expensive to
ship.
4. Crop rotation
Instead of using chemical weed-killers,
organic farmers conduct sophisticated crop rotations to keep their soil healthy
and prevent weed growth. After harvesting a crop, an organic farmer may use
that area to grow "cover crops," which add nitrogen to the soil to
benefit succeeding crops.
Conventional farmers, on the other hand, can use
every acre to grow the most profitable crops. Because crop rotation reduces the
frequency in which organic farmers can grow profitable crops, they're unable to
produce the larger quantities that are most cost-effective for conventional
farmers.
5. Post-harvest handling cost
In order to avoid
cross-contamination, organic produce must be separated from conventional
produce after being harvested. Conventional crops are shipped in larger
quantities since conventional farms are able to produce more. Organic crops,
however, are handled and shipped in smaller quantities since organic farms tend
to produce less, and this results in higher costs. Additionally, organic farms
are usually located farther from major cities, increasing the shipping cost.
6.
Organic certification
Acquiring USDA organic certification is no easy -
or cheap - task. In addition to the usual farming operations, farm facilities
and production methods must comply with certain standards, which may require
the modification of facilities. Employees must be hired to maintain strict
daily record-keeping that must be available for inspection at any time. And
organic farms must pay an annual inspection/certification fee, which starts at
$400 to $2,000 a year, depending on the agency and the size of the operation.
7.
Cost of covering higher loss
Conventional farmers use certain chemicals
to reduce their loss of crops. For example, synthetic pesticides repel insects
and antibiotics maintain the health of the livestock. Since organic farmers
don't use these, their losses are higher, which costs the farmer more and
increases the cost to the consumer. Additionally, without all the chemical
preservatives added to conventional foods, organic foods face a shorter storage
time and shelf life.
8. Better living conditions for livestock
Higher
standards for animal welfare also means more costs for organic farms. According
to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, organic feed
for cattle and other livestock can cost twice as much as conventional feed.
9.
Organic food grows more slowly
Time is money. Not only are organic farms
typically smaller than conventional ones, but they also, on average, take more
time to produce crops because they refrain from using the chemicals and growth
hormones used by conventional farmers.
10. Subsidies
Production-oriented
government subsidies reduce the overall cost of crops. In 2008, mandatory
spending on farm subsidies was $7.5 billion while programs for organic and
local foods only received $15 million, according to the House Appropriations
Committee.
Money-saving tips
Until then, try to get most of your
organic food from farmers markets. You'll be supporting local farmers and
purchasing the food at a reduced price since you're cutting out the middle-man
retailer. Check out LocalHarvest.org. You can plug in your city or zip code and
get a list of all of the farmers markets in your area.
It's also important to
note that you don't need to buy all foods organic.
The Environmental Working
Group's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides has a "Clean 15" list of the 15
types of produce lowest in pesticides. Save your money for the other organic
produce and buy the conventional versions of these:
1.Onions
2.Sweet corn
3.Pineapples
4.Avocado
5.Asparagus
6.Sweet peas
7.Mangoes
8.Eggplant
9.Cantaloupe -
domestic
10.Kiwi
11.Cabbage
12.Watermelon
13.Sweet potatoes
14.Grapefruit
15.Mushrooms"
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