Proposal with Annotated Sources
We are used to believe that organic food provides us with a chance for a better and healthier living. We are surrounded by a whole set of beliefs and are confident that organic food is the best option nature can offer in our striving to prolong our lives and to guarantee that we are able to avoid and minimize the risks of serious medical complications.
We sincerely believe that nutrition is the critical component of healthy existence; as such, we look deeper into the essence of food and nutrition as the means of escaping the plagues of our routine lives and enriching our existence with regenerative and ecologically safe products. However, is organic food as safe as researchers and advertising professionals position it?
Obviously, we live in the midst of numerous myths which are not always scientifically grounded; and where organic food companies seek generating additional profits, we cannot be confident that organic food we purchase is as safe as we want to believe.
Moreover, it is not yet clear whether organic food as the source of sustainable and healthy living has a promising future. Finally, we lack sufficient and reliable information about the inconsistencies and negative effects genetically modified (GM) foods produce on human health.
We are what we eat, and in this context, organic food is called to satisfy our nutritional and health needs, to make sure we receive sufficient amount of nutrients and avoid consuming pesticides and other harmful ingredients, so characteristic of traditional food. Whenever we seek to eat more fruits and vegetables, we inevitably face the need to consume increasing amounts of chemicals which are always detrimental for our health.
The problem, however, is that we do not clearly realize what organic food is; that is why I want to look deeper into the essence of organic products and the true benefits they offer to consumers. I am confident that we are governed by a whole set of organic food myths; that is why I want to ensure that these myths do not distort our understanding of healthier living and do not deprive us of an opportunity to make a relevant and reasonable choice.
I want to know more about organic food and genetically modified food because the current scientific knowledge is at least insufficient to conclude that organic food products are unilaterally positive for our health. Finally, I want to know more to guarantee that I am able to justify my organic food claims and to back up my organic food beliefs with scientific findings.
Possible paths of inquiry
In the search for objective truth about organic food several essential questions need to be answered. First, is organic food as safe as we tend to believe it, or do we use the label “organic food” as the means to satisfy our unjustified healthy ambitions? It is very probable that under the cover of “organic food” word combination there is a whole set of harmful inconsistencies which do not improve the quality of our living but simply make us look fashionable in our “healthy food” claims.
Another essential question to be explored is what specific benefits organic food offers to its consumers. In this context, a related question is whether genetically modified products are as harmful as green fighters tend to depict them. It would be very useful and convenient to review the relevance of GM products through the prism of their toxicity.
Finally, and as opposed to the positive image of organic food, the issue to analyze is whether GM foods can be given a relevant place in the traditional diet. In the light of the unilaterally negative information about genetically modified products, it is more than important to create an objective picture of the benefits and negative effects of both organic and GM modified products, to ensure that consumers can readily operate full information and make reliable and grounded choice.
Possible sources
In the search for relevant and unbiased information, peer reviewed books and journal articles can become the important sources of primary and secondary information. Interviewing can also be useful to investigate opinions which consumers hold toward organic and genetically modified foods. The disciplines to research will include nutrition, organic chemistry, toxicology, and public relations, with the aim to explore the impact of image and advertising on public perceptions regarding organic food. Given the universal nature of organic food, the sources to be analyzed may either be local, regional, or national.
Preliminary research
Roseboro, K. The Organic Food Handbook: A Consumer’s Guide to Buying and Eating Organic Food. Basic Health Publications, Inc., 2007. The book by Roseboro is an acute response to the growing popularity of organic food. Roseboro is a well known editor and publisher of a monthly newsletter concerning the risks of genetically modified foods, as well as the author of numerous related articles.
In his book, the author sheds the light onto the major benefits of organic food and seeks to provide a detailed explanation of what organic food is and how it can be used to promote sustainable living. His intended audience is a common consumer trying to understand what organic food is.
Magkos, F., Arvaniti, F. & Zampelas, A. “Organic Food: Buying More Safety or Just Peace of Mind? A Critical Review of the Literature.” Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, vol. 46, no. 23 (2006): pp. 23-56. Magkos, Arvanti and Zampelas are confident that in the light of the growing consumer demand for organic food, the lack of scientific evidence does not provide us with a chance to evaluate its benefits and possible negative effects. Their intended audience ranges from simple consumers to nutrition professionals.
Where the amount of agrochemical residues serves the basic criteria for evaluating the quality of organic food, the authors are confident that toxicological evidence is too limited to be used as the source of information, and thus a different set of safety aspects should be used to speak in favor of organic foods.
Domingo, J.L. “Toxicity Studies of Genetically Modified Plants: A Review of the Published Literature.” Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, vol. 47, no. 8 (2007): pp. 721-733. The article by J.L. Domingo again raises the question of scientific evidence regarding the toxicity and safety of genetically modified foods.
The author suggests that although GM food products currently sold to mass consumers have passed all safety tests and are not considered to bear any risks to human health, the major portion of empirical studies have been limited in scope and should thus be reviewed to establish the true nature of GM products and the effects they produce on human health.
Generally, the preliminary research of literature shapes rather controversial picture of the current primary and secondary sources. It appears that trying to evaluate and to look deeper into the essence of organic and genetically modified foods readers are likely to face the overt criticism of previous research results.
Whether we are able to achieve the goals of the current research will depend on our ability to expand the scope of the preliminary literature review, to ensure that we can readily avoid bias and incorporate the results of literature analysis into the system of current organic food beliefs.
Works Cited
Domingo, J.L. “Toxicity Studies of Genetically Modified Plants: A Review of the Published
Literature.” Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, vol. 47, no. 8 (2007): pp. 721-733.
Magkos, F., Arvaniti, F. & Zampelas, A. “Organic Food: Buying More Safety or Just Peace
of Mind? A Critical Review of the Literature.” Critical Reviews in Foo
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