Why does organic food cost more?
Prices for organic foods reflect many of the same costs as conventional foods in terms of growing, harvesting, transportation and storage. Organically produced food must meet stricter regulations governing all of these steps so the process is often more labor- and management-intensive, and farming tends to be on a smaller scale. There is also mounting evidence that if all the indirect costs of conventional food production (cleanup of polluted water, replacement of eroded soils, cost of health care for farmers and their workers) were factored in to the price of food, organic foods would cost the same or, more likely, be less expensive.
A. The shelf or farm gate price of organic food is higher for a number of very good reasons. It costs more to produce because it is more labour intensive, crops are grown less often in the same piece of ground and animals are held at lower stocking densities, for their well-being. The careful controls placed on organic production (including the licensing system) add to the costs of production and organic source materials, such as seeds and animal feeds, cost more than non-organic versions. But we should always bear in mind that organic farming does not have costly environmental impacts, such as the expense of cleaning up polluted water courses and treating drinking water to remove chemicals used in non-organic production.
There are two main reasons for the price discrepancy between organic and conventional food. These include demand for Organics outstripping supply, and the increased production costs inherent in growing organically because the materials allowed must be very labor intensive to be efficient. It is estimated that an organic farmers costs are 25-40% higher than those of conventional growing practices.
