Why are you eating that?

The mere word “organic” makes you think of a healthier lifestyle, greener practices, and higher food production standards.

The broad definition of organic, provided by Green (2008), is food produced without the use of synthetic chemicals, toxic and persistent pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics, or biotechnology.  When corporations do not follow these standards they treat animals inhumanely and put consumers’ health at risk.

So how does this affect you? When you pick up an item with the word “organic” on it, do you know what drives you to buy it or place it back on the shelf?

The most common and widespread belief is that people buy organic products because they are selfish. This pro-environmental behavior is simply reduced to a selfish behavior. Most people recognize that organic food costs more, is supposed to be healthier, should taste better, and that helping out the environment is a worthy cause because of the natural growing and farming process. However, with this all being said, do we really know that by spending more money on organic food we are contributing to this praiseworthy cause? There is a definite sense of uncertainty that stems from this question.

Thogersen (2011) conducted a study to disprove the common, yet mistaken, idea that people buy organic products for self-interest, rather than for the noteworthy cause. In four different Western European countries, questionnaires were supplied to 1,000 participants where factors such as organic buying experience were measured. Thogersen found that after starting to buy organic food products, consumers enter a process of self reasoning, distorting their current belief structure and strengthening their previously performed behavior. Also, the study showed that what motivated buying organic food seems to be universalism values, like the natural environment, among other things.

 So, if you are an organic food buyer, don't worry about that little bit of extra money that it may cost you. It is not a selfish behavior to buy “green”, in fact you are supporting a great cause. 

-Rae Wohl

Green, Christine A. (2008). The Cost of Low-Price Organics. How Corporate Organics Have Weakened Organic Food Production Standards. Alabama Law Review, 59.

Thøgersen, J. (2011). Green shopping: For selfish reasons or the common good?. American Behavioral Scientist, 55(8), 1052-1076.