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Food
Published in John C. Ayers, Sustainability, 2017
In the United States, food is certified by the USDA as organic if production methods promote resource cycling and soil fertility, ecological balance, and biodiversity.12 USDA organic standards prohibit the use of synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, irradiation, and genetic engineering, and discourage the use of synthetic pesticides and herbicides. These standards make organic farming better for the environment than conventional farming. Although organic foods generally cost more than conventional foods, the full cost determined using full cost accounting is lower. Recent studies suggest that organic produce can be economically competitive with conventional agriculture, even when not taking externalities into account (Crowder and Reganold 2015). Increasing demand for organic foods will lead to decreasing costs through economies of scale.
Agriculture
Published in Yeqiao Wang, Terrestrial Ecosystems and Biodiversity, 2020
John P. Reganold, Jonathan M. Wachter
Research has found that organic foods, compared with their conventional counterparts, have significantly less to no pesticide residues [17–20]. Thirteen of 16 reviews or meta-analyses of numerous studies in the scientific literature [20–32] have found some evidence of organic food being more nutritious (for instance, having higher concentrations of vitamin C, total antioxidants, and total omega-3 fatty acids) than conventionally grown food. The other studies [19,33,34] concluded that there were no consistent nutritional differences between organic and conventional foods. However, one of these three studies found that conventional chicken and pork had a 33% higher risk for contamination with antibiotic-resistant bacteria compared with organic alternatives [19].
Organic food – reinventing traditional food production?
Published in Charlotte Fabiansson, Stefan Fabiansson, Food and the Risk Society, 2016
Charlotte Fabiansson, Stefan Fabiansson
There is an emotional side linked to the growing and purchasing of organically produced food, but there is also a public risk perception that modern industrialised food production uses practices and inputs damaging to the environment and yields food that can be harmful to public health. Further, demand for organic food is partially driven by consumers’ perceptions that organic food is more nutritious than current industrialised food (Baranćski et al. 2014). Scientific opinion is duplicitous when comparing the environmental and health impacts of organic and industrial food production systems, not taking either side, and is almost silent on the importance of emotional facets of risk.
A joint production-workforce-delivery stochastic planning problem for perishable items
Published in International Journal of Production Research, 2022
Pedram Farghadani-Chaharsooghi, Pooria Kamranfar, Mohammad Seyed Mirzapour Al-e-Hashem, Yacine Rekik
Moreover, 30 percent of food waste across the globe is comprised of organic foods (“Organics,” 2018). According to Crinnion (2010), organic foods usually have more nutrients, namely vitamin C, magnesium, and iron. Furthermore, some undesirable components, namely synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, toxic and persistent pesticides, and synthetic hormones, separate organic foods from non-organic (“How is organic food grown?,” 2018). Consequently, we can reduce public health risk for both producers and consumers by avoiding using harmful materials to grow veggies. Given public health risk reduction and willingness to have more nutrients, people think that organic food is safer (Lee et al. 2013). However, the average price of organic food is about 68% higher than non-organic food. This factor makes people unable to enjoy the benefits of organic food, despite the desire to consume food grown without chemical fertilizers and pesticides (Pillsbury 2011). Unfortunately, despite the benefits of foods produced in this way, very little has been done in this area so far. As a result, in this study, we aim to reduce the cost price of organic foods through decreasing supply chain costs by providing a suitable mathematical model. The studied knowledge-based company intends to close the price gap between organic and non-organic foods by reducing labour, production and distribution costs. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations stated that because of greater labour input and inefficient distribution chain, organic foods are more expensive (“Why is organic food more expensive than conventional food?,” 2019). On the other hand, the need for trained workforces is strongly felt for a manufacturer or supplier to continue to operate in today's competitive environment with productivity and efficiency. Obviously, training the new manpower does not only cost, but it needs a long time for the new workers to become familiar with the factory conditions and implement the provided training well (Stewart et al. 1994).