My brother is so anti-organic, that he refuses to eat perfectly good organic food?

Question

Oh gosh, my brother is 19 yet still insane. He claims the organic industry is the devil because its yields less food, which he claims is just an insult to starving and poor people. Today we went to a restaurant and most of the items were expensive except for a perfectly good platter which was only 8.95 and was organic. But just because it was organic my brother started an uproar and claimed I hated africa by ordering something which was in his words, "smaller, yielded less food for the poor, disease ridden, with no proven health benefits" all because it was organic he refused to eat it and ruined a nice night out with my whole family because he felt it was supporting "an evil industry" by eating it. Oh god, my brother is truly insane, but he said the organic industry "convinced Zimbabwe not to incorporate non organic food which would of increased the food supply and feed those starving people, but NO, instead they decided to starve those people with organic food."

Answer 1

He does not have to worry!

The organic food industry will never take over the world.  

It is a niche market and will probably never exceed 10% of the market share in the US.

Don't get me wrong,

I think people should have the right to choose the type of food they wish to eat. And be guaranteed access to it.  

Even have the government oversee and fund, to ensure this.

But respect the right of others.

If given a choice with 2 bowls of cereal already in front of them to pick from,

one organic, the other not labeled.

Most poeple will choose the organic.

Studies have shown that the average person is willing to pay a little more for the organic goods

Also more for eco-, farm labor-, local-friendly goods.

However if the organic is 20+% more expensive,

they will often just go with the cheaper non-labled product to save money.

Your brother is a conspiracy theorist.

Just tell him that many of the things he eats are already organic but not necessarily labeled as such.

And just about everthing humans eat are organic,

otherwise they would be inorganic!

[A chemist's humor]

He might meet a hot looking lady in the future.

He really likes her.

When he finds out she is into the organic lifestyle.

Do you think he will convert?

Answer 2

organic does yield less on the whole.  It is not feasable to try to feed the world like that. it is for people who are scared of regular farming who are uneducated about what it really takes to feed the world.  I'm not sure what this has to do with Africa and dont care.  Vegitarians, organic farming, politcally correct....all are symptoms of liberalism if you ask me.

Answer 3

let your brother know that organic food may have more diseases and not keep as long as processed and pesticide ridden food but it provides more jobs to American citizens. That is because it takes more people to weed the garden and haul in the harvest before it is ruined. The people in Zimbabwae will have to settle with the pesticide ridden food they are given because people are not open to supporting the organic industry.

Have him e-mail me if he wants to debate.

Answer 4

Your brother is touching on one of many controversial things about organic food.  Some people think it is a sham because it is just another govt. org. to fund to become "certified".  I doubt that it will affect the feeding of people in Africa or other countries as I agree it is a niche market.

As for your brother, if he doesn't like it, then he doesn't have to eat it.  As we say in our home "More for me!".  And if he is so concerned about other countries, he could look into peace corps, or another way to make a difference.

Answer 5

Your brother is sort of strange- i have one too(17)- i love organic food cause I know its safe- why would anyone hate it?