Organic ≠ Best

In the past, I’ve come across fitness bloggers advocating for grass-fed beef because of its higher nutritional value, and while they’re not wrong, the negative effects of grass-fed beef seem to fairly outweigh its benefits. Compared to conventionally bred beef (which are already part of the harmful chain of animal agriculture), grass-fed beef have even higher greenhouse gas emissions and land use (as more forests must be cut down to make space for grazing). We saw really good examples of this in Cowspiracy, where the family farm of grazing cows are stating the humongous area that their cows are occupying like they don’t mean anything. In Cowspiracy, we also learned that the excessive North American diet takes up significantly more land than a vegan diet or mostly plant-based diet. In some aspects, the organic approach is the same: it benefits a select group of people who have the luxury of paying for costly organic produce at the sacrifice of taking up more land and emitting more methane. I think the notion of organic foods have been painted in an exaggerated manner, and their costly nature makes it more of a luxury for the elite instead of a commodity for the people. We shouldn’t be consuming these products if it comes at the expense of sacrificing precious land that we‘re losing so fast these days.