The Idea of an Essay, Volume 3

Research Writing 165 used for controlling plant disease, weeds, pests, nutrients and other needs the plant demands (Mahaffey & Cranshaw, 2007). Recently, organic agriculture has become more popular in America, and as the steady demand for organic produce increases, it poses many considerations. DeGregori argues that the term organic has been diluted and states: “Organic food buffs have corrupted and greatly diluted themeaning of theword ‘organic,’ which inorganic chemistry has meant ‘containing or consisting of carbon compounds’ for more than a century. All artificial pesticides are organic” (DeGregori, 1997). Although “organic food buffs” do not use the literal meaning for organic, research from this essay has been careful to include only studies that were certified organic according to USDA standards. According to the United Stated Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic farming is “one of the fastest growing segments of U.S. agriculture for over a decade (2014). It has grown tremendously since the end of the 20th century, where Smith-Spangler et al. (2014) refer to the press release from the Organic Trade Association with organic sales increasing from $3.6 to $26.7 billion. Various research has looked at organic agriculture such as the factors behind the purchasing of organic foods, the benefit that organic farming has to the environment, and the health benefits that organic food has to the individual. Chiciudean, Funar, Arion, Chirla and Man conducted a study for marketing purposes to determine what factors of influence organic food has on the consumer (2012). Participants were surveyed in this study which asked questions related to: brand, cost, quality, taste, quantity, price, and the fact that the product was organic. Chiciudean et al. referred to Zanoli and Naspetti explaining that taste seem to be the superior factor of influence. Another major factor of influence appears to be the persona of organic food itself. With the help of marketing, consumers assume organic food as a higher quality product than its conventional counterpart. The study also refers to Saba and Messina saying an influential aspect of organically grown food is how it is safe to the environment and the consumers’ idea of it being more healthy: “[Organic food is] perceived as more environmentally friendly and healthier than conventional foods” (Chiciudean et al., 2012).