The Idea of an Essay, Volume 3

170 The Idea of an Essay: Volume 3 The article describes different biological controls, and explains the function of each organism. This article is helpful for my essay because it provides the reader with the adequate knowledge needed to know what a biological control organism is and how it can be used in organic agriculture. Seufert, V., Ramankutty, N., & Foley, J. A. (2012). Comparing the yields of organic and conventional agriculture. Nature , 485(7397), 229. The comparison of organic and conventional yields is an important aspect of my essay because it is one of the arguments frequently brought up. It is important for the reader to understand the difference in the yields, and what prevents organic yields from outperforming conventional. Smith-Spangler, C., Brandeau, M., Hunter, G., Bavinger, J., Pearson, M., Eschbach, P., & Bravata, D. (2012). Are organic foods safer or healthier than conventional alternatives?: a systematic review. Annals of Internal Medicine, 157(5) The study was conducted to determine whether or not organic foods are a healthier alternative than conventionally grown food. The survey was comprehensive with almost three hundred relevant studies. Although therewere different levels of potassium and pesticides between the foods, it was concluded that there are not any substantial health benefits. The research admitted that limitations were present. Different experimental methods used for the studies they surveyed, the weather, and different soil types all played a part with limitation. This article is useful to my essay because it provides me with previous research that has been done to determine the health benefits of agriculturally grown food versus conventionally grown food. This can be implemented into my essay because it exposes one of the essential reasons why consumers choose organically grown food.