All farmers are losing a battle right now. It doesn’t matter if it’s a corn/soybean farmer, beef farmer, or an organic farmer. They’re all taking a hit right now with the scares of GMO’s, horomones, and E.Coli.
Whether you support organic food or not, you’re affecting a farmer. If you’re an organic consumer you’re hurting the non-organic farmers. If you’re a non-organic consumer you’re hurting the organic farmers. Why you ask?
Organic farmers can’t produce the same amount of food as a non-organic farmer. The more people that want organic, the harder it is going to be for those farmers to produce enough food. They won’t be able to produce enough food for organic consumers if there is a season of drought, bugs, or disease. This will cause prices to go up and only upper class people will be able to afford the food. This then causes more people to go back to non-organic farmers. Well that would be great and dandy expect those farmers have been producing less since there hasn’t been a ‘want’ for it (since more people have been eating organic). They make less money on their products causing them to not be able to afford the things they need to produce a larger product. They have a smaller crop, meaning less food.
Non-organic farmers can produce a lot more food than organic farmers. This, in turn, is already hurting organic farmers because they have to find a ‘niche’ market to sell their products to. Non-organic farmer’s products are cheaper, causing them to have a larger concentration of consumers. Organic farmers have to fight large amounts and cheaper prices. It will all come back to the organic farmers if the non-organic farmers can’t produce enough in a year because of weather issues. Once again we will end up having a smaller crop, meaning less food.
It’s a complete cycle of defeat for both sides. The consumers are what drive the markets and the markets are what drive the farmers.
It’s a never ending battle.
That is why I feel bad for both sides of farming. Farmer’s support each other, in every avenue. It doesn’t matter to them what each other raises as long as they’re doing it to the best of their ability. Organic or non-organic, it doesn’t matter. They understand why each side does what they do.
Do both sides have good points? Yes. Do both sides have a common goal? Yes. Both are feeding the world.
So next time you’re in the grocery store remember to think of each farmer. Buy some non-organic, buy some organic.
Help them keep feeding the world and our families.
