To Be Organic or Not to Be..?

Whether or not to eat organic foods has become one of the most controversial contemporary issues, as evidenced in Chapter 9 Big Organic of The Omnivore's Dilemma. In this chapter, one of the issue Pollan reflects heavily on is the difficulty with which self-proclaimed organic farms compete with conventional farms on a producing scale. As stores such as Walmart & Whole Foods prefer the economic costs of buying from one large producer than from multiple smaller ecologically-friendly farms, the latters are pressured to industrialize their methods to become more efficient. As a result, the term "organic" becomes more opaque in that these new industrial shipping methods burn enormous amounts of fossil fuel - What then is to become of this term if it damages the world in which it was supposed to benefit?

Another arising issue which Pollan highlights is whether eating organic food really is beneficially - and if so, for what purposes? Studies done by UC Davis suggest that naturally grown produce contain more vitamins and polyphenols in comparison to conventionally grown ones. However, in my NS 1150 class, Professor Levitsky suggests otherwise, debunking this statement as a mere myth - there is no difference between organic and conventional food. Thus, it is nearly impossible to eventually settle on a more "accurate" side. As consumers, we should not make the fatal mistake of thinking that what we know about food is all we need to know, an example being Justus von Liebig. We should appreciate the complexity of food, be patient and invest more time investigating these issues before a more solid conclusion can be made.

Nevertheless, interesting questions I have which stem from this reading include the following:
- With demand for ethanol & the global population increasing simultaneously , more fields are being used to grow corn for energy purposes instead of dietary. Thus, in a decade or so, wouldn't artificial fertilizers and genetically-modified crops be essential in order to produce crops at a faster rate to sustain the hunger of the population?
- Can stale and wasted food be used to fertilize and enrich soil?
- Is it possible to organically grow crops indoors? - i.e. transfer rich soil from one location to another and grow crops from the latter location?