Why is organic food more expensive?

[aico]

Something I never understood, why is something that takes less chemicals & less processing more expensive?

[uno]

Because people are willing to pay a premium for it.

[MattO]

Cuz hippies are suckers.

[MaDalton]

Ask Marina, she's the specialist for organic vegetables. or at least she has friends who are...

[RedShoe]

Originally Posted by aico

Something I never understood, why is something that takes less chemicals & less processing more expensive?

because they can't make as much of it and they still need to cover their overhead.

[SykkBoy]

if produce is grown with no pesticides, etc. it is more prone to infestations, disease, etc. so there is a smaller crop yield
but also, because it's "trendy"...that always drives prices up...look at sushi prices over the last decade or so...

[sweetredhead]

Originally Posted by uno

Because people are willing to pay a premium for it.

yes and its a simple supply and demand thing there is less of it so people are willing to pay more for it than your waxed up chemical covered apples that are at every 7-11, supermarket, bodega everywhere. Make sense?

[RedShoe]

Originally Posted by SykkBoy2

if produce is grown with no pesticides, etc. it is more prone to infestations, disease, etc. so there is a smaller crop yield
but also, because it's "trendy"...that always drives prices up...look at sushi prices over the last decade or so...

Sushi.

I still can't believe I paid $1000 for food that wasn't even cooked.

[beemk]

with chickens its because they inject them with steraroids and hormones or whatever to make them grow faster so they get more pounds out of a chicken quicker. they obviously make less $ if they dont use it, hence the higher price.

[aico]

Originally Posted by beemk

with chickens its because they inject them with steraroids and hormones or whatever to make them grow faster so they get more pounds out of a chicken quicker. they obviously make less $ if they dont use it, hence the higher price.

Ok, but what about Eggs and Milk. Do non-steroid free range chickens lay less eggs? and do cows produce less milk?

[UniversalPassLorence]

Tell me about it. It's a rip off.........

[BV]

Organic food is more expensive because the yield per acre is much much less.

Chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, etc etc.. allow for massive yields per acre compared to growing organically.

[donkevlar]

Originally Posted by BV

Organic food is more expensive because the yield per acre is much much less.

Chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, etc etc.. allow for massive yields per acre compared to growing organically.

Yes. It's not that hard of a concept.

You stack chickens vertically in a warehouse, put cows each in their own cow-size pen and shove chemicals into tomatoes that make them 10x as big and you make a lot more product for a lot cheaper on less land.

[BV]

Originally Posted by donkevlar

Yes. It's not that hard of a concept.

You stack chickens vertically in a warehouse, put cows each in their own cow-size pen and shove chemicals into tomatoes that make them 10x as big and you make a lot more product for a lot cheaper on less land.

well actually it has to do with pests. (insects, weeds and diseases like fungus and blight)
weeds reduce yields big time, unless you pull them by hand
and that costs big money

bugs eat the shit out of crops, so you need insecticides to kill them

same with diseases like fungus and blight, you need fungicides to keep in check or yields go way down

if you never have farmed or raised crops it's hard to visualize