Preview

Organic & Processed foods: What's Better

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2587 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Organic & Processed foods: What's Better
Organic & Processed Foods
There are a lot of differences and similarities with organic and processed foods. I’m sure when everyone was a kid they could eat whatever they wanted and didn’t worry about what it did to their body. I remember when I was younger I would cook a whole Tostito’s Pizza and consume the whole thing myself in under five minutes. I wouldn’t gain a pound and that same night I would have two big macs (back when there was a big mac Monday) and sit on my butt playing video games. It’s not like I didn’t have the exercise. I played all sorts of little league sports including baseball and soccer. You may think I was writing an essay on the effects of metabolism but I’m more interested in finding out what the words “Organic” and “Processed” foods really mean. What kind of chemicals are in them and what the huge fuss is about. I think this is an important topic to write about because most people don’t know what the difference is. What makes a food organic? What happens to the ingredients when converting it into a processed food? I think if you understand more about this issue people would choose to live healthier and know how easy it is to alter their diet. Organic food has gone back in history ever since the first person decided to take and seed, plant it, and then eat what the plant produced. This is known as farming if you were confused. Over the years farming has evolved from types of fertilizer used, machinery, tools, equipment and even animals. Machines can harvest a field of crops in one hour where a hundred years ago it would have taken a full day. Processed foods are more close to our time. In the 1920s, women were growing weary of preparing foods from scratch, and ready-to-cook foods were becoming more available. World War I brought about new methods of food processing, including canned and frozen foods. When World War II hit by the 1940s people needed away to ration the food for the soldiers. After the war, many new “convenience

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    I gained different knowledge about organic food along with the benefits of it. Non-organic food contain pesticides and plenty of food additives. 100% Organic is made with none of that it’s made all naturally so for example its made with no food supplements and no pesticides. In the food and recipes feature stories section John Reganold, a professor of soil science at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, states, "If you 're talking about pesticides, the evidence is pretty conclusive. Your chances of getting pesticide residues are much less with organic food.” For example in a regular industrial farm where they plant crops they use pesticides along with food supplements for it to grow faster and for it to taste better. Now in organic farming where they grow crops or raise animals there are no pesticides or food supplements used in to make them grow faster, it was…

    • 1755 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    People are often at odds to choose between food like organic verses inorganic food or products. And what is the difference and is one actually better for you or is just there to makes it easier for you to justify eating it If you think one is not using the industrial food chain. After reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma", my own personal opinion about the food industry and that many Americans don’t know how or how our food is even processed and grown or raised or how it gets to the grocery store. An example I love is my mom is a kindergarten teacher and she was doing a lesson on food and where our food comes from and the kids new that food comes from a grocery store and that was it. They had no clue that they food they eat had to be grown somewhere else and then brought to the store for them to buy. The next question was who like chicken nuggets and they all raise their hands and then she asked what is a chicken nugget and none of them could answer her. When my mom said they come chickens all they kids were grossed out and said they don’t eat chickens. This just shows today that kids aren’t being told how their food gets to their plate and I feel that this is a very important concept for people to know not just kids. Going along with that people don’t know how food affects out bodies and after reading this book it makes you think about what you eat a lot…

    • 904 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Grocery shopping in today’s society can be extremely confusing for most consumers; I have often pondered over which product to feed my children and if organic food is actually better than processed food. Although I have heard many people say organic food is a gimmick to get more of today’s consumer’s money, or that they just can not afford it; I argue that eating organic is a more healthy choice. “Organic food consumption is one of the fastest growing segments of U.S. domestic foodstuffs” (Crinnion 4).…

    • 1351 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Food Police Summary

    • 2195 Words
    • 9 Pages

    They aren’t better tasting, nor do they have anymore health benefits than nonorganics. Organics do tend to use fewer pesticides, though they do still use them, and pesticide related health risks are not nearly as imperative when compared to other problems out there. Depending on yields and how much farmers are using conservation tillage practices that traditional farmers are already using, there is a chance that organic farming could possibly be somewhat better for the environment. We should all keep one thing in mind: organic foods just cost more. The absurdity here is that the food police have made food into a “status-seeking game” while at the same time wondering why exactly the poor don’t consume enough nutritious food. Even teachers at our kids’ schools find places in their schedules to bring up eating organic, buying local, and recycling. New York Times asked one mother about her child’s schools’ push to “go green” and she said that, “the social pressure her children felt regarding recyclable products was palpable.” She had caught her child’s teacher’s attention when she chose to use plastic bags inside of a lunchbox. She said, “That’s when the kids have meltdowns, because they don’t want to be shamed at school.” This type of “status-seeking” consumerism occurs when we purchase things just to better our reputations. Instead of avoiding this type of attitude, the food police encourage it (Lusk, The Food…

    • 2195 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Argument Sarah Fox

    • 973 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Ten years ago it was difficult to find organic foods in local stores, but now most super markets sell several types of foods that are organic. Because of this, the public has been given the opportunity to provide healthier and cleaner foods for their families. But, when buying groceries, people unfortunately tend to buy what they believe to be organic food, but what is actually referred to as conventional organic, without even noticing. There are two different types of organic foods, true organics and conventional organics. True organic food is food grown is healthy soil, which grows healthy, plants, which in turn, feeds humans and creates health within. Conventional organic food is basically industrial agriculture done without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. It follows the bare minimum to meet the regulations in order to get the ‘Certified Organic’ stamp. Companies do this in order to cash in on the bigger margins that health- and environmentally-conscious consumers are willing to support for organic food. When shopping it is important to buy mostly true organic foods, doing so allows you, as the consumer, to avoid dangerous chemicals and hormones, benefit from more nutrients, and preserve the ecosystem.…

    • 973 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Five years later, the industry of synthetic and processed food skyrocketed, sending organic and small stores out of business. As a result, “the counterculture promoted natural foods organically grown” (Pollan 2). Big Food has been working to develop a healthy organic cuisine…

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Gmos

    • 1379 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Currently in our country, there are endless amounts of issues surrounding the debate between organic and conventional foods. Organic and conventional foods differ in many ways; the substance, cost, appearance, health benefits and government interaction of these two types of foods differ from one another greatly, but also are considered extremely similar in the eyes of the average American consumer. Is organic food healthier for the human body? What is the actual difference between the two? Is organic food worth the cost? These are all questions American consumers are asking. In this essay, the similarities and differences of organic and non-organic food will be looked at in detail.…

    • 1379 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sociology Paper #1

    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Coincidentally, before my second viewing of Food INC in our first sociology class, I was in a renaissance of eating healthier. I wanted to lose some weight and maintain that healthier weight not by using a temporary diet but by changing my lifestyle. I decided to cut out processed foods as much as possible. I was also interested in the organic option over the conventional options at a Safeway for example so I did my research on organic food. While there isn’t hard conclusive evidence that non-organic food is surely harmful to the body, there were some interesting correlations with non-organic food and negative effects. Upon further research and article reading, I read that some foods should definitely be eaten organic versus food that doesn’t have to be eaten organically. For example fruits or vegetables with a thick covering like pineapple will be less affected by pesticides because the hard “shell” prevents the pesticides from getting to the…

    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    How important is the food that the averages person puts into their bodies every day? Eating is a way of making peace, passing the time, sharing friendships, and having a communion. The narrator of Food Inc points out that, “The way we eat has changed more in the last 50 years than in the previous 10,000” (2008). How has it changed? Americans have gone from eating hunter-gatherer style organic greens and fruits, to severely processed sugars, carbohydrates, and high protein meats. Most Americans eat something similar to a “chicken and pasta” diet nowadays. This may not be bad, but is this “new” food really better for us than what people ate 50 and 100 years ago? Organic foods are substances that are produced using ways that do not involve modern unneeded synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Organic foods are also not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives (dictionary). Convenience food, or tertiary processed food, is commercially prepared food designed for ease of buying and consuming. Products designated as “convenience or processed foods” are often prepared so they can be sold as hot, ready-to-serve plates; as room-temperature, long lasting shelf life products; or as refrigerated or frozen products that require minimal preparation (usually just microwaving). There are studies that show that the food people consume on a daily basis…

    • 945 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ian Hacking states that “Social changes creates new categories of people.” (Hacking 1999, 1). Social change has occurred within the last 50 years in America’s society when it comes to healthy living. Especially within the last decade, America has been making a push for organic food. Organic meat, organic vegetables, organic fruit, all organic ingredients.…

    • 703 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Organic foods are viewed as super healthy and in general superior to other foods, yet if that…

    • 635 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    II. Eating organic food can do things for your body that non organic food cannot do.…

    • 1572 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    More nature, less chemical – this is what, generally speaking, organic food is about. The process of creating authentic food in line with organic principles starts on the farm and is kept all the way through production, processing, distribution and sales. The organic food market is regulated by strict EU and Member States legislation and all people involved in production of organic food must comply with the rigorous rules. To ensure consumer of a high quality and compliance with the organic farming regulation and to help them identify organic produce, an organic control bodies logos are placed on the packages. From 1st of July 2010 an EU organic logo (figure 1) is obligatory for all pre-packed food items. Other logos commonly used on Irish market are shown on fig. 2.…

    • 2837 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are some alarming differences between organic and processed foods especially when considering agriculture. “Organic” means that a food is grown without the aid of pesticides or fertilizers. Organic farmers use manure and nothing else to grow fruits, vegetables, and grains. It says in The Organic Myth that this can lead to some bad cases of E. Coli that wouldn’t be present in foods grown with pesticides since there are all sorts of bacteria in the manure (2004). The reverse is that without all those chemicals being sprayed on crops, you tend to have less pollution. Rodale states, “Growing foods organically prevents thousands of toxic chemicals from entering the environment and poisoning…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I, initially, didn’t buy into the hype of organically grown food and saw it as another scheme companies had come up with to pilfer the paltry amount of money most individuals have in their pocket. To be frank, organically grown food isn’t nutritionally better than regular foods; in fact, some regular foods can be genetically modified to have higher concentrations of nutrients so organic loses in that regard. However, one of the main reasons why I advocate for organic food (if you have the means) is that its safer for your long term health and below are my reasons why.…

    • 272 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays