Organic Food and Locally Grown Food: Are They the Same?

In the U.K., consumers are gobbling up organic food by the bushel. In fact, according to the Organic Centre Wales, "Direct sales of organic food through box schemes, farmers' markets and farm shops grew by far more than a third to L144 million in the course of 2004." And these numbers have continued to rise as consumers turn into increasingly concerned about the long-term effects of the chemical fertilizers and pesticides used on crops grown by non-organic farms.how to make money Even though most folks agree that organic food is preferable over non-organic, a debate has begun about the source of organic foods. For instance, is imported organic food as desirable as UK organic food? Generating the Situation for Neighborhood Organic Food Those on one particular side of the debate insist it doesn't matter exactly where organic food is grown rather, the important aspect is that the food meets stringent standards to make sure that it is really organic. Those on the other side of the debate are equally vehement that locally grown organic food is preferable to imported organic food, both because the fossil fuels used to transport imported organic food add to worldwide warming and due to the fact UK organic food supports nearby farmers. Advocates say that you can discover UK organic food at an organic farm shop, or even arrange for organic food delivery appropriate to your door. You can even find organic fish, such as organic trout from an organic fish farm. There, the organic trout may reside in 400-year-old spring water and consume all-natural shrimp that comes from organic watercress beds. These who favor importing organic food point out that an organic farm shop will only have seasonal foods, which severely limit the selections shoppers have when preparing meals. Imported organic food, they say, retains its superior nutritional high quality whilst delivering a bountiful assortment of fruits and vegetables. Some men and women, of course, take the middle ground, and opt to pick their foods from an organic farm shop when what they want is in season and shop for imported organic food the remainder of the year. The Bottom Line People may possibly differ in their opinions about no matter whether or not to limit one's consumption of organic food to that grown locally, but virtually absolutely everyone agrees that organic fruits, organic vegetables, organic fish, and organic meats are preferable to these that are grown with chemical fertilizers, insecticides, and fungicides. Presently, non-organic growers are authorized to use over 1,000 chemical substances on crops. This translates into everything from soil erosion due to more than-farming to hazardous toxic runoff into our drinking water. Expanding food organically is a way to reverse this trend. With more than 700,000 hectares dedicated to UK organic food, farmers are trying to meet consumer demand. Nonetheless, some markets import almost half of the organic food they sell. As for who will win the debate more than locally grown organic food vs. imported organic food, only time will tell.