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Deshay Edwards

Professor Watson

English 1001

19 February 2018

Organic vs Non-GMO

Over the past few years both the organic and non-gmo labels have taken over the shelfs in

every grocery store across the United States. For these two labels however it’s more than just

getting rid of the GMO products, but now it’s about who is bringing in the big money and who

has a greater influence on its consumers. For most people the reason on why they buy non- gmo

products is because it appears a lot cheaper than organic, but why is that. In 2016, non- gmo

sales alone rose about 16 billion, where Organic sales in the same year rose about 12 billion. By

definition organic food is something that is produced or involving production without the use of

chemical fertilizers. While non-gmo by definition is none genetically modified organisms. When

comparing these two definitions they look very good, but what does these two things mean to

customers.

In the article “organic food fights back against non-gmo rival” it breaks down how

organic foods has to make a quick comeback against non-gmos. The main reason why more

people are buying non-gmo is because it’s cheaper. When the author of this article asked a

customer which one she would buy she pointed to the non-gmo with no hesitation. When asked

why she pick that her response was “This one is a little bit cheaper, I guess I’d go with this one”

(Organic food). This tells researchers just because it appears a tad bit ‘cheaper’ it makes a bit

better. Which in that case is wrong, many believe that customers are being ripped off because
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they believe that non gmos are better for you, and scientist and food administrators have said

multiple time that was incorrect (Organic Foods). Another issue with non-gmo products is that

there are organizations that don’t prohibit the use of synthetic pesticides. An example of this is

the Bellingham wash, who “doesn’t prohibit the use of synthetic pesticides on crops used as

ingredients or ensure animal welfare standards” (Organic vs non gmo). The issue with this is that

some non-gmo products could still be using synthetic products such as pesticides and herbicides.

Even though you can clearly see the flaws in non-gmo, organic isn’t perfect either.

Organic foods have their problems as well. According to organic food fights back against

non-gmo rival, “The official organic rules, while they prohibit the use of genetic engineering, do

not require organic food companies to test their ingredients for the presence of gmo” ( Organic

foods). For organic food this is one of the many reasons why organic products aren’t as popular.

Organic products have the choice to have both organic and non-gmo labels, however there is a

series of test that needs to be done. The reason behind this is because organic foods can

accidently be contaminated by gmo and other pesticides. A great example of this is the spreading

of corn. The GM crops like corn is widely known for spreading in the wind and that is why most

consumers request for the extra endurance of both labels (Non-Gmo vs Organic). Another thing

to bring up is the pesticides that are being used. Many organic farmers such as Allen Williams,

use different things to fertilize their crop. Many farmers like Williams uses chicken manure as

fertilizer, and his way of clearing weeds is by having local students come and pick them. In

conclusion, organic products are slowly improving by making different choices.

Although the sales of both organic and non Gmo are rising, what is making these two

products so popular. Let’s start with non-organic foods, organic products became a big deal in

2007. The thing that caught the attention with this product is because there was being food made
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without all the genetically modified organism. However, there is a lot skepticism with non Gmo

because it’s still an agriculture that is being used with chemicals (Non-Gmo vs organic). When

previously looking over the years there is a steady growth of non Gmo and organic where now

non-Gmo is bring in money. The image below shows how much non Gmo foods have grown

compared to organic (Organic foods).

On the other hand, organic products have always been around however didn’t get proper

recension until early 2005(Organic food become big). In 2005 the annual gross income from

organic foods was 20 million dollars alone. Another thing that is very interesting that even
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though organic foods has been around longer, that non Gmo has a greater income. The reason

behind this is because organic products cost more. And the second reason is because non-Gmo

don’t contain any organisms being injected by anything that’s outside of natures law.

Now when consumers go grocery shopping they are looking for things that have both

organic and non-Gmo labels. According to non-Gmo vs organic “22 percent of consumers now

cite avoiding Gmo as a primary reason to eating organic foods”. Also, according to the same

article “Many consumers search for products with both the non-Gmo and organic seal” (Non-

Gmo vs organic). These things are what people are looking at when the do research or when they

are grocery shopping. When it comes down to it non- organic foods are always going to have

bigger hand in the food market. There was a study conducted showing that there is a 70 percent

growth each year, where organic has only been about 50 percent (Non-go vs organic labels). The

happens because non Gmo is the new thing.

To conclude the paper, even though organic foods has been around longer there is still a

higher demand for non-Gmo. With this demand being so high and to continuing to grow in the

course of few years is will be a lower demand for organic and a more higher demand for non-

Gmo.
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Work Cited

Bain, C. & Selfa, T. Agric Hum Values (2017) 34: 805.

Bunge, J., & Gasparro, A. (2015, Dec 09). Organic vs. non-GMO food makers face off ---

companies vie over the meaning of labels in effort to woo skeptical consumers. Wall Street

Journal

Charles, D. (2016). Organic food fights back against 'non-GMO' rival. Washington: NPR.

Diane, Melissa. "Non-GMO vs. organic Both are good ways to avoid CMOs, yet they have

definable distinctions: do you know the difference?" Better Nutrition, Mar. 2014, p. 70+.

Expanded Academic ASAP,