I come from a farming family. In fact, my family’s farm has been around for close to 150 years. I didn’t grow up on the farm, but that heritage is vitally important to me, and I have a lot of respect for what farmers do. It also means that I get a little testy when activist groups try to vilify certain farmers for not meeting their (often unreasonable) “health” demands. This is especially true with organic products (and non-GMO labels, but I’m not even going to touch that can of worms today). But with that background, and having a deep personal connection to agriculture–one that is supported with plenty of my own research–I don’t buy organic.
Farming in America
First, let’s look at some of the numbers. 97% of the 2.1 million farms recorded in USDA’s 2012 Agricultural Census Data were family farms. That doesn’t mean small—I’ve talked to farmers who farm over 20,000 acres, but that land is supporting 6 individual families. The average farm size in the US is 444 acres, though that number is skewed by a large number of farms that make less than $10,000 in sales a year (50% of those 2.1 million). 80% of farms in the US make less than $100,000 in sales a year.
But What About the Idyllic Small Family Farm?
Smaller doesn’t mean better. We see farm sizes consolidating because economies of scale mean that farmers tend to be more profitable when they’re bigger. Just because a farm is “big” doesn’t mean it’s not valuable, doesn’t mean it’s not a family farm, and doesn’t mean it’s worse for the environment than small farms. In fact, big farms might have more of the economic leeway to be early adopters of beneficial technology, to experiment with new production methods, and to take risks.
Only 8% make $500,000 per year or more. That may seem like a lot, but farming is a highly risky business. It’s also costly. Do you know how much a combine costs? A cool half a million dollars for new models. And that’s only one piece of equipment.
Farmers spend an average of $210,081 on farm production expenditures each year. That includes different machinery, seeds, fertilizers, inputs, labor, fuel, etc. That’s a lot of money when you face risks like price fluctuations, adverse weather, pests, and diseases. Crop insurance only protects for a fraction of that risk.
Organic Farming
Over the past few years, there’s been a boom in demand for organic agriculture. In fact, US certified organic makes up $7.6 billion in sales a year. There are 14,217 organic farms in the US over 5 million acres, so an average of 350 acres per farm. That’s not much smaller than the average farm size overall. And I hate to break it to you, but a lot of those stalls at the farmer’s market are big operations.
This blog post in Scientific American does a great job of breaking down some of the main myths around organic production. It’s a balanced, objective approach that also points out some of the downsides to conventional agriculture. It addresses myths like: organic production doesn’t use pesticides, organic food is healthier, and organic farming is better for the environment. See one of your reasons on there? Dig into the research.
Trying to get off my soapbox…
I’m not going to go into all of the arguments for and against organic here because that would take far too long, and plenty of other people have addressed that question much more eloquently than me.
I will say that if you’re deciding this for yourself, please for the love of god seek out objective scientific sources. That does not mean activist groups that lobby on the issue or spread fear-mongering propaganda. The truth is out there, people. And the organic industry makes a lot of money every year by hyping up consumer fears.
Did you know that Whole Foods’ 2016 annual revenue was higher than Monsanto’s? But which one is named disparagingly as an evil big business? That comparison is harder to do for last year now that both companies have been bought by others, but the point still stands. Companies make a lot of money by playing into consumer fears of what we put in our bodies.
So Do You Hate Organic Farmers?
Goodness, no! I know plenty of farmers who actually grow both organic and conventional, and they won’t say that one is better than the other. They’re simply responding to market signals that make organic production economically worth it. They’re being savvy when running their businesses.
And on a broader level, I think that organic agriculture has done a lot of good for conventional production. Farmers are finding better ways to protect their soil health, introduce crop rotations, and support beneficial insects and native plants. That isn’t unique to organic farms, but it likely has them to thank for at least some of those efforts.
What About the Finances?
I know, I know. This is supposedly a (loosely) personal finance blog, and here I am ranting about combines. I’ll get to the point now.
I did some highly official research on price differences between organic and conventional products…okay, that’s a lie. I checked out the price comparisons for some of the main products I buy at Wegman’s. But I know that other research has been done looking at those price differences on a broader scale.
Caveats
Look, I know that your specific prices are going to vary. You can reduce some of these if you buy in bulk and take advantage of sales. Hell, I don’t even buy half my products in these smaller quantities. But that’s not the point of the table. Rather, it’s to provide one example of some price differences and to analyze the bigger effect of that over the longer term.
A note on this table. It is mainly produce. The problem with a lot of processed foods labeled as organic is that the formulations aren’t necessarily the same as their conventional counterparts because they want to capitalize on other health claims. For example, I buy “natural” raspberry jam. Not because I care at all about such a subjective and vague label, but because the “natural” version has less added sugar than the standard one. And that matters to me. The same goes for store-bought breads (a lot of brands include quite a bit of added sugar in bread products). Side note, that’s why I like baking my own! And making other things from scratch, too.
Finally, The Numbers
| Product | Organic | Conventional | Difference |
| Canned black beans (15oz x 2) | $1.98 | $1.26 | $0.72 |
| Boneless skinless chicken breasts (3lb) | $17.97 | $5.97 | $12.00 |
| Blueberries (18oz) | $11.99 | $8.99 | $3.00 |
| Olive oil | $12.99 | $7.99 | $5.00 |
| Apple Cider Vinegar | $3.49 | $0.99 | $2.50 |
| Green onions (1 bunch) | $1.49 | $1.29 | $0.20 |
| Bananas (2lb) | $1.18 | $0.98 | $0.20 |
| Gala apples (2lb) | $7.98 | $5.98 | $2.00 |
| Baby spinach (6oz bag) | $2.99 | $1.99 | $1.00 |
| Acorn squash (2) | $5.96 | $3.96 | $2.00 |
So let’s imagine that you buy this cart weekly. Okay, you’re not going to need that much olive oil and vinegar weekly, but you’re also buying plenty of other products that would see similar organic/natural premiums, so I’m not too worried about that part of the math.
On the organic cart, you’d spend $68.02. On the conventional cart, you’d spend $39.40. That’s a difference of $28.62 in one week. In a year, it’s $1,488.24. And that’s not even accounting for half of the products/price premiums you might be looking at! Think eggs, milk, bread, oatmeal, cereal, peanut butter, beef, tofu, pasta. Again, there might be other reasons besides the organic label to buy the more expensive version with some of these, but not most of the time.
So the next time you’re in the grocery store, put the fear aside. Look at the facts, and figure out what you really want to spend your money on. Food is very personal, and I don’t want to tell anyone how to shop, but personally, I don’t buy organic.
Great article! It’s easy to forget that farmers have so many expenses, well easy to forget because i don’t normally think about them having to buy all the equipment, seeds and fertilizer. I’ll have to be more mindful when buying food or just driving by some of the farms where i live. It’s shocking just how many farms there are in the US.
We don’t buy organic unless it’s the only option available. I’ve been thinking about trying to start getting some things organic, like oats. I do believe that the food industry throws out the idea that certain foods at bad unless organic, instilling fear in people. But after reading your article, i might think a little harder on the decision to buy organic.
Thanks for the comment, Emily! I’m glad my post helped you think more about the farms in your area and whether or not organic is worth it. The food industry definitely profits from selling that “fear” message to consumers!