What's All The Fuss About Organic?

“I just don’t know what all the fuss with organic is. It’s simply a marketing ploy to scare people into spending more money.” said my husband!

Have you heard the gist of this statement repeated before? My husband & others got me to thinking … is ‘organic’ really just a marketing ploy? Am I any better off spending my money on organic? So began my quest for answers.

Yep, my husband is right, organic is more expensive – whether it be food, textiles, beauty, bath or body products, you pay more for organic. Put simply, one of the main reasons organically grown crops are more expensive is due to higher attrition rates - they are more susceptible to disease & to be dined on by bugs. Therefore an organic grower has less produce to sell than his conventional counterpart, so he must price it higher to make ends meet.

So that’s simple Math, it’s why organic costs more, but is it actually worth the money? I kept digging & this is what I came up with:

Organic is Better for You

Whether ingesting through food or via the pores of the body’s largest organ, the skin, avoiding exposure to toxic pesticides & chemicals present in non-organic crops is a good outcome for anyone.

OK, that makes sense to me, but it’s an argument I’ve heard before. Is there more to this organic thing?

Organic is Better for the Planet

Let me explain by using a plant we're all familiar with & most of us encounter in our daily lives – cotton. Conventionally grown cotton consumes approximately 25% of the insecticides & more than 10% of the pesticides used in the world. The run off from these chemicals does irreparable damage to the soil & contaminates nearby groundwater (MetaWear). Organic plants are grown without chemicals, so problem avoided

OK, again makes sense. But I have to be honest, I’ve heard that argument before too, although granted, slightly less frequently than ‘Organic is Better for Me’. Anything else? 

Organic is Better for Workers

Again, I’ll use cotton as an example because it’s something that we're all familiar with. In most of the world, crops such as cotton are harvested by hand, meaning laborers at conventional farms are constantly exposed to carcinogenic pesticides & insecticides that have been sprayed on crops (MetaWear). Those working on organic cotton farms get to breathe easy. 

Now, this is an angle I’d not given much thought to. 

If I wanted to go a step further & choose a product that isn’t simply taking someone else's word for it, but is actually certified organic, then I have a number of options to choose from. But one that kicks the most goals is GOTS certification, which stands for The Global Organic Textile Standards. The reason I’ve formed such a love affair with this particular certification is their standards are high & broad, so much so that their certification even includes a minimum social criteria for workers such as guaranteed safe working conditions & a fair wage.

So, I now see what all the fuss with organic is about (& so does my husband!), & I do believe it’s more than simply a marketing ploy. Where do you sit: left of, right of, or on the fence?

To explore our range of organic products click here. If you’re interested in GOTS certified products then simply type in GOTS. For more information on GOTS click on the link below. 

What’s the Deal With GOTS?

By Kylie Banks