“Carrots” by Rebecca Baker

Walking into a Whole Foods store for me is like walking into utopia; the Garden of Eden truly exists in the fruit and vegetable aisles. The lush salad greens beckon me, Honeycrisp apples call out and the pineapples stand strong and proud in their prickly skins. The charming artistry of the hand-drawn chalk price signs aren’t enough to keep me from choking on my Whole Foods brand carrot juice though; the price for organic piece of mind is too much for me this college girl to afford. In the New York Time’s Room For Debate article “Is Organic Food Worth The Expense?” this question is posed to many scientists, researchers and farmers with their own opinions of this matter. I personally feel there is a clear middle ground for consumers to be budget savvy as well as health wise and environmentally conscious when we make decisions regarding what to purchase for our plates.

One of my personal grocery store concerns is questioning the health and safety of the produce I am intending to ingest. It is no secret that pesticide use is rampant and common-place in conventional farming practices but were you aware that it is also just as commonplace in organic farming as well? Raj Patel, author of “Stuffed and Starved,” states his opinion in his rebuttal article “Focus on the Right Kind of Organic Farming.” Patel expresses that “agricultural chemical poisoning kills one million people a year, with millions more made severely ill by it” (Patel). This statement is interesting because he doesn’t affirm whether the pesticides in question were organic or synthetic compounds. Another contributor to the discussion is Christie Wilcox, journalist for the Scientific American. Wilcox brings up the point in her article “The Ecological Case Against Organics” that “organic pesticides have been linked to a wide variety of diseases – some at lower doses than synthetic ones. Fact is, all pesticides are designed to kill, and natural ones aren’t in any way less dangerous” (Wilcox). It is frustrating that as a full time college student and part time employee that when I am able to afford the luxury of organic produce I am still potentially myself to dangerous pesticides. I feel that the general consensus is that organic means “safer” because we aren’t ingesting traditional chemical fertilizers but the truth is that organic agents and herbicides can still pose a threat to our health. Deciding what to put into your body is a personal choice and oftentimes it comes as a result of convenience and cost. I personally feel that purchasing produce that is farmed in your state (possibly at your local community garden) is the best way to obtain truly “clean” produce. Wasatch Community Gardens explain in their Garden Policies Packet that “The best fertilizer that money can buy is made in our gardens. Organic compost is truly a revitalizing and magical gardening mixture” (Wasatch Community Gardens). I suggest utilizing the Farmer’s Market (held at Pioneer Park) during the summer and the Winter Market (held in the Rio Grande depot) during the fall and winter seasons. Not only are you reducing the environmental impact of the resources it uses to transport your produce but you also have the opportunity to discuss one on one what the grower is using on your produce.

I feel there is a room for both organic and conventional produce, meat and dairy in my budget-wise refrigerator. The trick to being able to eat healthfully but also frugally is balancing the two. Typically, if the item in question has a rind you wouldn’t normally eat (watermelons, avocados, and pineapple) you can buy the cheap conventional option and save your pennies for the produce that tend to be in a higher contamination bracket (spinach, apples and celery to name a few. If you are comfortable placing your pantry in the hands of scientists and biologists then go ahead and take a chance on that $1.99 pound of conventionally grown strawberries. Until there is clear cut evidence of the long term effects of eating strictly organic or exclusively conventionally grown foods I feel we are better off balancing the two. Putting ourselves through college, raising families and supporting ourselves is hard enough without the added pressure of feeling like we have to eat “perfectly” all the time. I think the most important part is just that of incorporating fresh fruits and vegetables into our diets and knowing that we do, indeed, have a choice in the matter.