There is a common misconception where healthiness is defined in one word - organic. That salad you ate yesterday - was the lettuce organic? Because if it wasn’t, then it's not as healthy. How about the tomatoes on top, were they organically farmed? But what do we really know about this word, and why is conventional food looked less fondly upon? The organic hoax. Conventional crops are in fact just as nutritious as organic foods, their pesticides may be much less harmful than those used on organic crops, and the cost of conventional foods make them more convenient than the luxury pricing of their counterparts.

One of the most common lies told to organic food consumers is that their food is healthier than conventional foods. People think that because since more time is spent to care for each organic plant, that somehow along the way organic crops have a boost in nutrition. However, this is simply untrue. Many studies have been conducted to see which type of food is more nutritious, organic or conventional. The most famous, conducted by Stanford University, had results that would come as a shock to organic food buyers. Both types of food, organic and conventional, are equally nutritious.

“Does an organic strawberry contain more vitamin C than a conventional one? Maybe — or maybe not. Stanford University scientists have weighed in on the “maybe not” side of the debate after an extensive examination of four decades of research comparing organic and conventional 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.” (Chang)

If both foods have the same nutrition level, then why are organic crops considered healthier? Because of the price point? Many fall under the spell and misconception that because organic foods are more expensive, they have to be better. This lie extends as far as buyers making claims that organic crops somehow taste better. But really, consumers are paying for the label of organic on their vegetables. In reality, there is no difference - other than the price.

An obvious benefit of conventional food is the price. In some cases, organic foods can be over 320% more expensive than conventional crops (The Cost…). For this reason, consumers are convinced that organic foods are healthier for you, and this is justified by their price. However, as previously noted, there is no difference in nutrition between the two.

“In March, a Consumer Reports analysis found that, on average, organic food is 47% more expensive than regular food. The USDA numbers are similar. Of course, organic food is a bit more expensive to make than regular food, but a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that it’s only 5-7% more expensive, so the price difference is not really justified; it also means that organic farming has become more profitable than regular farming. In other words, from a price point of view, organic has become a synonym for luxury.” (Andrei)

It is unfair that buyers are told that organic foods are better, to get them to spend double the money on crops equivalent to their counterparts. One might say that the reason why this price difference exists is because organic foods cost more money to farm. However, if this were true, wouldn’t organic foods only be around 5-8% more expensive? Instead, organic crops cost over three times that percentage. It all comes back to organic crops’ luxury pricing not being justified by the mediocre quality of the actual food.

One of the main reasons why people do not buy conventional foods is because of pesticides. It’s a well know fact that organic foods do use pesticides for mass production, and therefore puts a gap in the argument for conventional foods. But, what people don’t know is that these chemicals are not as bad as they are deemed to be. First of all, the pesticides on conventional foods are well below the healthy pesticide limit which were put into effect by the EPA, or the United States Environmental Protection Agency (What Consumers...). Because of the rules that the EPA has made, companies that produce conventional crops have to limit their chemicals, making their crops all around safer to eat. Secondly, although it seems ironic, organic foods that claim to be better than their pesticide counterparts use chemicals to protect their crops as well. Therefore, by eating organic foods, although people are under the impression that they are pesticide free, there are still chemicals being put into their body (Langlois). However, as already determined, the pesticides on organic and conventional crops are safe for humans to eat. What should be more concerning to consumers is the soil that is being used for conventional crops. Because organic distributors claim to be more healthy, they try to bring natural production to the very soil that the crops are planted in. Instead of fertilizer that is used in the soil of conventional crops, organic farmers use manure to grow their foods in. Although this seems like a natural, organic idea, it goes wrong very fast.
“Another safety concern that has been raised about organic food is the issue of manure fertilizers. Some critics fear that using manure to fertilize organic crops might increase the risk of contamination by dangerous microbes like E. coli. ‘The organic farmers talk about the soil being more alive on organic farms than conventional farms. That life isn't just insects and worms; it's loaded with bacteria,’ says Klurfeld.” (DeCostole)

Consumers believe that they are getting the healthiest, most pure food when they buy organic, but they are mistaken. Due to a lack of knowledge, people are buying organic crops without knowing that they really do have pesticides, and that the bacteria used to help them grow can harm them more than help them. It is important that people become aware of these details that companies in the organic farming industry left out when they were talking about their “healthy” food; because in reality, the organic crops that they claim are so great can damage one’s health instead of improving upon it.

To conclude, the organic food industry has lied to every one of their consumer’s faces. There is no truth to their claim that organic foods have more nutritional value than conventional, and they left out that that organic foods have chemicals laying on their leaves. Also, organic crops are overpriced, and that cost is not justified by the quality of the actual food. The question is, will you waste your money on the organic hoax?