Organic Overseas

There’s a really interesting article in today’s Christian Science Monitor about the organic food movement in India. In the late 1960s the country embraced genetically modified plants that more doubled the amount of food the land could produce, but now many farmers are seeking to go back to the organic way of farming.

The big reason for this push is the lucrative overseas market, particularly in the United States. About half of all organically grown produce from India is exported, and only about one percent of India’s population eats organic food, according to the article. The main reason people in India don’t eat organic is the price: organics are 20 to 25 percent more expensive, and in the case of rice buying organic costs about five times more than buying conventionally produced rice. In a poor, overpopulated nation, economics make a huge difference in access to food.

Organic farmers say organic costs more because it is more labor intensive: plants actually have to be cared for instead of just sprayed with pesticide and left to grow. Conventional farmers say organic farming should be cheaper because those farmers don’t have to buy equipment and chemicals used in mainstream farming. Ultimately, though, some see a need for more balance in the Indian farming system, such as not growing rice in areas that are drought-prone and instead growing plants adaptable to each region of the nation.

When it comes to food production, we could all use a little balance. No one knows what genetically modified foods do long-term to a person, especially the new ones that Monsanto is designing to be resistant to Roundup and other herbicides. If we continue to allow genetic modification to be the norm, we may end up with a food supply with very little natural left. While that means great profits for those in farm technology, it could speak disaster for consumers, particularly if these modified plants were weaker in some other way that caused them to die out.

Organic food is expensive, and not everyone can afford to buy organic all the time. But it really is worth it in terms of taste, nutrition, environmental sustainability and health. Buy organic when you can and know that you’re supporting biodiversity as well as getting good eats.