I ran across an article that gathered a small group of people and asked them to address a problem in which they had no prior knowledge about. They then gave them all the information they needed to provide a educated solution to the problem. The problem was to decide between the "organic" dairy farm and the conventional dairy farm. All of the groups considered the organic farm better for the environment, but no much better in terms of the treatment of the animals. In the end, the group could not decide on one system over the other, but they left knowing a lot more about how the industry works. I just thought this was really interesting, because in a consumer society most people do not really consider where their food products come from or how they are processed.
Although I was only able to read the abstract, it made me realize, that I do not really know what makes a food organic. Now I am really going to think twice before I chose the organic milk over the less expensive store brand.
Assessing the consumer perception of the term "organic": a citizens' jury approach
Andrew P. Barnes, Petra Vergunst, Kairsty Topp. British Food Journal. Bradford: 2009. Vol. 111, Iss. 2; pg. 155
This is the citation for the article, I could only find the abstract so if anyone comes across the full text, please let me know. I would really like to read more about this study.
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2 comments:
Meagan, I recommend you read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. The USDA also publishes guidelines for organic certification. Check their website. It is truly a complicated process. Many farm produce organic food but cannot be certified as organic because they do not have the necessary liability insurance. This is true for small farms.
This sounds like a really interesting article. I always wondered about the distinction between organic food and "general" food options. I just thought the distinction was in that organic meat and dairy products the animals are not feed hormones. It is interesting that people looked into how animals are treated.
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