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3/9/2015
05/06
The Sickly Beast: Why Organic farming is the way to go
medicine. This in turn can promote other companies to follow in the same
footstep as this multi-billion corporation.
In chapter 7 of Food Inc. Cheap Food: Workers Pay The Price, it explains why
immigrants and people with low incomes are the ones to pay the price for
the low prices of food in the U.S. An example given in the book is one of a
seventeen year old girl who dies after having a heat stroke while picking
vines in a California farm. Her death is an example of how the pressures for
decreased prices in our food system inevitably lead to exploitation of the
workers at the lowest end of the economic chain (Food Inc.125). The
system of agriculture in the U.S shields the big corporations from blame
concerning these productions. In the young teens case it involved her
employer who was neither Trader Joes nor Charles Shaw-producer and
winemaker Bronco Wines, but a farm labor contractor with no discernible
assets and no traceable relationship to the product sold(Weber 126). It is
hard to find who is to blame in these types of crimes. Is it the farm that hired
the girl or is the State of California itself which enforces labor regulations
that dictate shade, drinking water and rest breaks for farmworkers? Organic
farming on the other hand is known for its just treatment to its workers.
However since organic culture has become more mainstream, it is
characterized more and more by large-scale farms that have converted to
organic purely as a marketing decision (CATA Pushes for Social Justice in the
International Organic Movement). Undoubtingly this has caused mass
confusion for the public; this is why many people cannot distinguish between
real organic corporation and fake multi-billion dollar ones. More than
nonorganic farms there is a growing consensus that exists within the
international organic community for strong labor standards that are based on
existing international human rights laws. Yet there will always be, even on
the organic farms, a corruption when it comes to workers rights especially in
California where the migrant population is steadily increasing. According to
reimagine.org The ideology[agricultural exptionalism] also pervades the
organic and sustainable agriculture movements, which tend to conceptualize
social justice as justice for farmers, not farmworkersthe wages[for farm
workers] area among the lowest for any employmentCurrently, the median
income for a single farmworker is between $10,000 and $ 12,499.( MinkoffZern , Getz) This puts farmworkers in the poverty level and although this
may be true for many organic farms the nonorganic companies are much
more opposed.
The environmental value of organic farming and the way the products are
grown is often times considered more important than the nutritional value of
organic food. Many people expect that just because the food is organic that
its nutritional value will be better than nonorganic farming which is not most
organic organizations claims. Organic farming differed than conventional
farm grown food in the way that the products are grown. Research has shown
that has established that organic farms are nearly as productive as
conventional farms, use less energy, and leave soils in better condition
(Food Inc. 213). Therefore organic food can be seen as being healthier due to
References
Works Cited
Web. 10 Mar. 2015. <http://www.cata-farmworkers.org/english
pages/Fair Labor Standards.htm>.
"Antibiotic Use in Food Animals." Antibiotic Use in Food Animals. Web.
10 Mar. 2015.
"Conventional Vs. Organic Vs. The Future of Food." The Permaculture
Research Institute. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.
"Farmworkers-The Basis and Bottom of the Food Chain." FarmworkersThe Basis and Bottom of the Food
Chain. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.
"Homeland Security." Preventing Terrorism and Enhancing Security.
Web. 4 Feb. 2015.
"How You Can Help." FBI. FBI, 30 Aug. 2010. Web. 4 Feb. 2015.