Economic Naturalist

Ian Reutelhuber

April 12, 2012

Economic Naturalist

Why is locally farmed, organic food more expensive when it uses less fertilizer and does not have to be shipped as far or as long?

As more and more people are purchasing organic foods, the question of why organic foods are more expensive than conventional foods is being asked more frequently. The reason behind this question is if organic foods use less fertilizer and are normally locally farmed foods, then why would they cost more? Production and transportation would seem to be lower. However, the answer is a complex one, having more than one reason for the prices being so high.

A main reason for organic foods being more expensive is because of the limits on pesticides. You see, because farmers can’t use certain pesticides to block out weeds, the farmer will have to manually hand-weed more of the crop, raising the price of organic foods. Also, organic foods generally run a higher risk of losing most of a year’s crop, due to the lack of pesticides. Sewage sludge and chemical fertilizers are two options that organic farmers don’t have in their repertoire while conventional farmers do. These options are both cheap to buy and cheap to transport. Instead, organic farmers must rely on compost and manure to fertilize their land, which is more expensive to ship. These are several reasons that help explain why organic foods are more expensive than conventional foods.

Furthermore, there is the problem with rotating crops that organic farmers face. While conventional farmers have available every acre of that field to get the highest prices, organic farmers must switch crops in each field to keep the soil healthy. They must use what is called “cover crops” which doesn’t grow crops at the most efficient rate! However, for the fields to survive and the organic