In the past decade we have seen a tremendous rise in the consumption of organic food in this country, and it is a great niche market for those farmers that want to grow organic products. That rise in popularity has been sparked by a belief that eating organic is healthier even though there has been no major scientific evidence to prove it (we will shelve that argument for another time).
So let’s be clear on one thing that can get lost in this organic food craze; American farmers are not just feeding a select few in our country but feeding people all around the world. People need to understand that it is vital for farmers to use conventional methods and scientific breakthroughs to grow the food and grain to ensure that we meet the needs of everyone not just in our country but for all the countries around the world that look to us to buy food to feed their populations. Growing organic is just not a viable option for most farmers and it is not a viable option to produce the amount of food needed to feed everyone. There are over 6 billion people in the world today and 80 million more are added every year. If all the food in the world was produced organically there would only be enough food to feed 4 billion.
So should I help feed the world or just feed a niche? I think I’ll take the world.
