Why is organic food so *#@! expensive?? | Ali Partovi | TEDxManhattan 

I'm an organic farmer in Tennessee and I'm bringing change to this area on this very topic! I was trying to set up an account at Whole Foods in Chattanooga to sell my organic shitake mushrooms. They offered me .50 more per pound because I was organic however they were charging the public 3 dollars more per pound. The farmer does not receive the premium for being organic. It costs me a lot less because I don't use chemical fertilizers or pesticides. I am currently selling my organic produce for the same price that Walmart gets for their conventional produce! We're also putting together a co-op of farmers so that everyone can afford top quality organic produce. I currently have 2 farms from Kentucky that are joining us to create change in their state! Change is coming!

"So, I think America should stop worrying so much about feeding the world and focus a little bit more on feeding itself." Well said Mr Ali Partovi !

I am a regenerative farmer and moving towards organic. When my topsoil is rebuilt I will be totally organic. And he is right my organic crops out yield my conventional its bug and disease pressure that hurts my organic crops. But the healthier my soil gets the less pressure I get I am 3 years out from being totally regenerative and organic

he mentioned Chipotle as the largest organic company in America, but I live in Medford OR and the Chipolte was closed down by the health department shortly after they opened

Prior to 1800, all farming was organic. There was no other way.

That's what im saying!!! Its natural, why is it considered something so special? That's the way its supposed to be in the first place.

Great video! I got a Roundup weed killer advertisement before it started tho. Haha

I think there is a bit confusion in the video about cause and effect. Land income increases at organic farming not because it's more effective in a food productivity way, it's because they can sell the organic food for 2-4 higher price, their land income increases rapidly even is they produce less, but this does not mean that organic food is able to feed the whole planet.

Hi Ali- in America, "organic" is a specialty food, in grocery business the specialty food market has been the only growth area in retail grocery. so what has happened is "organic" started out as a hi end food product, so in growth -it has been specialty food products that are selling, so Costco, Wholefoods, and Walmart , are now the biggest buyers of "organic" label. retail has been on a stagnate level for years, and it has been specialty foods like gluten free, organic, vegetarian, beverage industry, ice cream like Ben and Jerry's, that have had huge growth. one by one specialty food brands have been bought up by big corporations. This is one of the main reasons why "organic" is getting so expensive. although with Walmart and Costco entering the picture, "organic" in america will become industrial agriculture, it is all about volume and low cost. the Wamartification of the "organic" is happening.

This was a brilliant TEDTalk. Most people are befuddled by the cost of organic goods. I happen to be one of those people who eats organic as much as possible and I get questioned by friends and associates about my decision. This has given me the tools to convince intelligently about the costs.

This guy has converted me. I am going to buy all organic in the future. Organic fruits and vegetables. Organic meat. Organic grains. Organic tofu and soymilk. Organic beans. 100% organic.

I feel like the wrong question is being asked. Why is junk food so cheap? Look at a bottle of Coca Cola. They sell a 1.25L bottled water for more than they sell a 1.25L bottle of Coke. Even though the coke contains the same water, Has chemicals that are delivered from big food science companies. Has sugar that has been refined from sugar cane and shipped to the factory... Why is is much cheaper? The economics is rigged and stacked in the corporation's favour.

Thank you thank you thank you! I so appreciate what you say and hope you will continue to speak up to educate people. You are helping to save our planet: people, animals, earth. Why is America not recognizing the importance of organic farming to sustain life?

Organic farming has 30-50% fewer yields that conventional food and it is NOT in ANY way "healthier" for you. It says on the FSA website that organic produce is not healthier. As a matter of fact organic pesticides have to be used more often, in greater concentrations and in larger amounts and are actually worse for the environment and your health. I used to go to the Glass house college and they were 100% organic and their food was the WORST food EVER. Their food was SO bad, I once went for 5 days eating absolutely NOTHING, it was that bad.

Hmmm. Last year I spent $1500 on ten tons of compost - two deliveries. I recently priced a 50 lb bag of urea nitrogen , $17. I could have gotten by last year with less than $100 worth of chemicals. I grow organically hence I do not use herbicides, weeding is very expensive, it takes time (which is priceless). Neem oil - expensive vs chemical insecticides. Add to this the price of seeds, greenhouse plastic, hand tools, etc. After all the expenditures people actually get pissed off because I charge $3 per pound for tomatoes! - why? because Walmart sells tomatoes for $1.50

It's not that organic food is more expensive its that junk food is sooop cheap like seriously a £1 burger I wish it was the other way round.

All very good points; but left out the most important point. The organic farms that have a higher yield and more profit than conventional are the ones that use intercropping and cover cropping instead of composting for nutrients. The latest studies show this and yet so many organic farmers insist on composting instead of intercropping and cover cropping. Composting is by far the most expensive method of obtaining nutrients.

Excellent review! Thank you Ali Partovi & TED.

very nice rendition of organic realities. Good placed statistics and well identified that my country INDIA is feeding the world on exact terms and text. im studying heavily about organic farming and agriculture in INDIA by my interest developed in this arena now. very apt seminar now i got on youtube of urs and find it useful approach. nice words about organic farming, essential awakening is necessary. thanku ali

90% of my food intake is organic. I eat some cheese, some poultry, but mostly tree seeds, veggies, corn tortillas, but no wheat. I have maintained a level weight for ten years now just changing my diet, and stop eating those overly processed, filled, food that only adds to the problems we have had for decades.

Great presentation, introduced by one of our team members, many of us watched it together. It was educational and motivational for our team, as a member of a small Bay area organic food company I recommend this video to everyone who cares about sustainability of our planet, people... Any small organic food businesses can use this video as an educational literature ! Cheers!!!

5:15. Those must be some well-mannered sheep...not to trample the crops.

Good speech- but he didn't address the high certification and labeling FEES that organic farmers pay. That's a main reason why organic prices are higher. But, even if organic is more expensive initially, its still less costly when ALL factors are considered, like disease linked to diet and the resulting time spent in doctor offices for meds and treatment plus personal pain/suffering. Organic is how all food used to be before conventional farming started in the 1940's. Joel Salatin does a great job outlining the history of farming in, "Folks, This Ain't Normal!".

There is serious amount of important data in this talk. Good work Mr Ali .thank uou

It so #$^%#% expensive because it's @#@% expensive to make, and #$@#$ difficult to separate it out. One thing that makes it so #$@$ to make is that the very Organic process can't use any of the chemical or pharmaceuticals that are the very thing industrialised farmers have been using to get much high productivity. Using old methods yields were modest, land had to be rested or it would lose available nutrients. Modern fertilisers put back those macro nutrients and some micronutrients (but damages the local biosphere ) ... the only way to stop the "nutrient loss" .... otherwise known as "food", is to produce _less_. But producing less, means that the overheads don't stretch as far, and the margin per item must go up to provide wages and return of investment (currently about (-5%) - 5%)). Maybe if he was farming not venturing or educating he would be able to realise that simple equation. You want food that has less production per hectare, with higher human effort, and without medication (and with extra certification) .... its going to cost _more_ than bulk manufactured cheap stuff.

My partner and I lived a whole year on 95% organic produce with just $42K per annum of income between the 2 of us. We didn't go into debt and only slightly dipped into savings. With a $50K income for 2 of us, we could break even buying organic products. Growing it ourselves using permaculture would eliminate the expense entirely and cost us only 2 hrs per day to maintain. Something we're looking into! You eat a lot less when eating organics - higher nutrient density! :) Body gets what it needs a lot quicker.

I'm a dedicated sustainable food home grower and local, organic and beyond shopper on 75% of minimum wage. It can be done. It does require meal planning to combat my food waste, looooots of homecooking, local, regional an/or seasonal eating, reducing meat consumption to mere flavoring quantities and adding lots of vegan dishes, getting off of highly processed foods and getting off my own butt to actually grow part of my own demand. (now, there will be a slew of reactions yelling "I could never do one of these things you just mentioned so, ohh em gee, forget it!" So, how about 50 or 75% organic or local?) You can not keep repeating myths if you have never made the full 100% effort to actually try it. I have and i have no myths left now even my beer is organic. It's all complete BS and i used to think exactly like that. Sure, there are still a lot of soil health and logistical problems in socalled sustainable farming but that doesn't mean it isn't at least better. ("It's not perfect so i'm not doing it!" BS, it looks like people are just busy to find any excuse not to do a thing.) It's not the fault of producers because they are begging us all the time to please, please tell them what you as a consumer desperately want. There is one single thing that all producers dread like nothing else, *losing customers*. Just look at all the sites where you can test products for free and leave reviews. They're groveling at our heels, man! My sis is into that stuff. Bless her. I don't feel i'm in a food war with her. Her perception of what good products are, is different. Imagine what would happen if her reviews contained this line "... I think this is a great product but i wish it contained more sustainable ingredients." The potential of this is mindboggling. What the world apparently wants, is ultra processed, rock bottom cheap, easy and that is exactly what they produce. They produce happy customers but unfortunately, the price is payed by the environment and it will take a long time before people come around and actually face the fact, it's *us* who do the damage. You can deny this all you want, but that doesn't lessen the problem or make it go away. It's childish. We have to become an adult species now. One baby step at a time, people. Come on. Yes, i am in fact super pedantic. Glad you noticed. It's an absolutely vital trait to me as i mainly use it to better my own behaviour. My change came by beating myself up and taking advice from people who already were where i wanted to be. It took me 3-5 years to get where i am and figure this all out. I mean to share. Much love.

Very interesting... Thanks for sharing!

Even in India Organic items are costly, may be because of exporting organic produce to North America!

The price of organic food is too damn high!

Please don't conflate organic with sustainable. It may have some useful features but it strictly adhering to what is perceived as more natural is not a good way to achieve sustainability. Organic pesticides are often worse than inorganic ones and obstinate on areas like GMOrganisms is foolish. Take the good features and discard the rest, it's not an all or nothing deal.

The root cause of expensive is brand name(Organic Certification),beaurocratic inspection,tariffs or other hidden reason. Demand/Supply is mostly excuse made by suppliers. Supplier always wanna jacked up the prices wether its organic or gmo. When hurricane hits ur state s, you will know it surely. Goodluck.

The cost of an organic certification is not cost effective for most small farmers. It is very expensive. It's about the money.

Orgnic food in India ??? No way that with the high pollution of the air, soil and water amd with the refusal of the indian government to make clean, that food in India is organic. Same for China where they use pesticides everywhere.

Funny how this is an investor and not a scientist talking about this.

I LOVE EATING ORGANIC!

Fabulous video. Well said Ali. We spent so much and invest so much for making food that is good for humans, but food for animals, because it is the animals that form the majority of the food consumed by the Americans. Going to a school cafeteria shows this pathetic status. It starts from the childhood. This speech shows that going back to basics is possible!

I was a produce manager at gelsons groceries stores in south OC and let me tell ya the Organic foods and veggies are delicious and better for you the only reason why they make a fuzz about the price is to control their stores and write off what they throw away and jack up the prices it's their way of having an excellent excuse to charge you for a company that can't even order what's needed for a single store and that's how they fix their s***** monthly inventories the truth is once u start having it you'll be hooked and they don't want that because the game will be over so don't cheat you'll self treat your self.

fantastic talk TED

You don't need to feed the world. You just have to feed yourself. Stop depending on others to supply you with the most important resource a human needs. Plant a garden.

organic food is is more expensive because the government only subsidies gmo corn, and buys millions of pounds of unwanted fast food that would of otherwise been thrown away, and then promptly throughs it away, and organic food tends to not underpay and exploit to the highest degree their workers. its not just demand, its that the economy is artificially manipulated by big ag. there is also a problem with self regulation.

so we increase domestic supply to satisfy demand to lower consumer cost?

The sheep/asparagus example is nice, but an instant fail in a food safety audit.

This is inspiring me. Thanks.

You are indirectly eating GMO corn if you're eating live stock fed these items. Eat organic meat too.

Right ON!!!

Really enjoyed this

anyone new to farming should learn about Bio-dynamic farming....once you have a calendar for your area,its a very simple way for someone to know what to do and when to do it.Even if you dont have animals....

Awesome Video. Organic food needs to reach everyone and must be in reach of everyone.

In my opinion it's because the demand is still higher than the supply. We buy organic most of the time because we prioritize it (we don't eat out much and we cook more at home). The supply is getting better with time and so the prices.

“ Still no model facts on the best true soil certified for self planting. On Hands with true knowledge.

You know what would be even better for the food system around the world. Eating local. Disbanding grocery chains, getting those who worked in grocery stores to work in the farm fields. Using our subsidy dollars to not fund animal agriculture/factory farming.Getting rid of fast food/proccessed food items from the shelves of stores. Making restaurant culture a culture based around whole food nutrient dense items. This would directly impact the poverty cycle. It would give north americans the needed push to lose weight, get off blood pressure medications, reduce health care debt in the U.S. We would then have extra labour available in our own country to build affordable housing. We would all do better as a whole continent. Then it can affect the entire planet.

I heard of a farmer growing cattle. Spent a ton of money on irrigation for the grass. All I could think was, like someone leaving a Moyle, you're missing the point.

"25% of consumers buy mostly organic" this is bogus! if 25% consumers bought 50% of their food organic on average, the global organic market share would be at least 12,5%

I am trying to eat organic food because organic food is NON GMO. GMO foods gives me health problems( indigestion, constipation etc..) I am not 1% or rich but it seemed I have no choice but to buy organic foods.

eye opener

Awesome video!

What a wonderful world it would be!

Since I am not from the US, I can only speak for th EU, the homeland of organic food. Most statements that are brought up here sound pretty 'fantastic' in the original sense, apart from very few nieches. Sorry to say that but organic farming, at least in Europe, works only because it is heavily subsidised, much more than integrated farming. Farming is much more complex than stated here. Sheep on asparagus farms? Truly a food of the average American. Is that really the best example one could come up with?

It is amusing that the pesticides conventional farmers use are organic molecules that degrade fairly quickly, but many pesticides used by organic farmers (iron sulfate, copper sulfate, manganese sulfate) are inorganic molecules and could be in the environment for years. (But don’t worry, they won’t harm you. Unlike organic fanatics, I’ll be honest about the real risks involved.) I believe that organic crop production rules also allow the use of nicotine-insecticides, which are organic molecules. That's like forcing cute innocent insects to smoke cigarettes.

THANK YOU ALI PATROVI!

If it isn't more expensive to produce, why don't the producers drop the price?

Nice video

Yep GMO is banned in Norway, however there are still industrial means like phosphorus mixed into fertilizer and the use of the least harmful pesticides possible, however the market for 100% ecological food is growing.

one word why MONSANTO

This guy is a genius. I learnes in my universoty studying holistic medicine, that the food produced in farms, can feed 12 billions.. that means we don't need industrial foods

Good😳

great talk, Ali ! 👏

organic is cheap now, it used to be expensive years ago...its very cheap

so the attempt to reduce carbon emmissions by using biofuels is causing land to be allocated to growing corn rather than organic foods..or did i misunderstand that part of his message?..

You can use Woo&Pep instructions to learn about diet guys.

I will want to see his input cost to production calculation how do one get rid of weeds in a tomato field you need to use herbicides or weed it by hand . If you calculate the labor cost it is a lot more than spraying. In fertilizer you will need manure and compost to produce this is not nutrient dens so you will need to ad 10 to 20 times more to produce the same yield as with an organic fertilizer if the tomatoes get late blithe i will have no harvest but if i can spray a fungicide i will be abel to save my crop . So i do not see how organic can be cheaper or mor productive than conventional farming

This person called the out they use no expensive pesticides their cost are 20% less but the yield is 15 % less, but the name organic should mean more than profit. The day will come that tall building will be farms and each floor will be two crops they will all be screened in and all elements will be controlled and solar panels will make a 22 hour going period giving the area 14 full crops each year. I am surprised the Elon Musk has not do this in a precurser of going to Mars.

I'm considered crunchy, but to compare food production in China isn't really a good metric. They turn plastic into rice and pass it off as food.

Uzbekistan would help you guys as well :)) still organic

1% in a high demand nation = higher prices. Some organic crops/animals also can take less time for the result to come than crops/animals with chemicals/pesticides = $ faster.

When you spend hours at the store cause its crowded AF in the produce section but not in the health section.

Wonderful Ali , we are friends on facebook

Dude hi5 love the work XX

Unless we expand the definition of "organic" to include micro-shards of plastic, that are now part of each rainfall, there is no such thing as "organic".

Interesting no mention of govt. subsidies for key inputs into many farms... fuel, chemicals, seed. If you don't subsidies non renewable farming then the market and nature will decide for us?

Where to get non GMO seeds ?

Thank You. I am one of those average ordinary Americans. I dedicate a large % of my income to the added costs of buying organic. I do with out other conveniences and new clothing. I consider my fellow working man. I do not want to be responsible for the people working the toxic conventional farm. I do not want to be responsible for polluting water that is consumed by families living downstream. I do not want to be responsible for the pesticide nano particulate in the dust, The cancer levels of the people living near factories producing pesticides, fertilizers .etc. etc. People really need to know that the effects of their consumerism ride of the backs of people just like them

Expensive? Maybe, but blame the middle classes who will pay over the odds in the belief that they are doing the healthy thing by rejecting mass market foodstuffs. The vast majority can't afford those kind of prices and are pretty much locked in by economics. On the other hand we have producers who have higher overheads based on economy of scale that come from operating on a very small scale. Then, when some are willing to pay prices that are stupidly high, are happy to price their goods accordingly and profiteer on the stupidity of others.

I really like your TED talk and would love to show it to my students. However, because of the title I can't show it in my class with students. Just thought I would throw that out there.

The sheep trampled half of my crop, and they had ecoli.

Grow your own food, if you don't have land use your balcony or grow indoors in pots. Grow as much as U can.

a simple calculator can tell you that bulk growing is more profitable. but there is a huge cost difference in labor. what is best for the land is normally not the most profitable as well. But makes it sustainable, one reasons why farmers don't rotate there cattle into there hay fields is the manure gets into the hay before it can break down as well as the output of cost of fencing and plumbing. Ali puts a good presentation together but it's not completely accurate.

Haha, Growing organic is expensive, visit Sikkim to understand the dynamics of organic farming. The produce is very less and small compared to inorganically grown food. I live in a village and I know how difficult it is to grow organic. From manure making, to collecting urine from the milking cows in a tank and then treating it with wild herbs and flowers, that we have never understood the value of, for making organic pesticide and fertilizer takes good amount of time and patience. The smell of urine is so pungent and strong, if you come here to work as a farmer does you'll surely faint buddy. It is not only this much, Organic farming needs much care and patience compared to methods using fertilisers that comes in packets. Organic farming is all about skill and patience. There is lot lot lot lot more to organic farming. This talk doesn't have an indepth understanding of organic farming, it's superficial just on a supermarket level. Giving example of sheep's clearing the asparagus farm from weeds was just so funny. Sheep's and goats are highly experimental animals, the don't leave anything on their way, they nibble everything whether they like it or not. And to top it up, once they nibble something it never grows back well again, I bet you on this. Ask a goat herder or a farmer in a typical village for the right info. It's easy said than done. There is very little knowledge of the dynamics of organic farming in this Ted talk.

Love from India

The problem with organic food producers is that while they are either solving or had solved the farm input costs by using a close-loop system an another artificially imposed problem rose up and it is the profiteering practices of food buyer-seller/retailers and it is that of unscrupulous marketing. There was an incident in Japan when Masanobu Fukuoka sold his low cost and high quality organic foods from his self-contained/close-loop farm to a food seller and when he discretly investigated the food seller to see how well his fruits are selling HE WAS SHOCKED THAT THE FOOD SELLER IS SELLING HIS CHEAPLY PRODUCED FOOD AT ASTRONOMICAL PRICES MANY, MANY TIMES THEIR ORIGINAL PRODUCTION COSTS PLUS TRANSPORT COSTS AND STORAGE COSTS! He became angry at the food seller who apologized to him but to no avail Masanobu Fukuoka never wanted to do business with him! The same thing is happening in your America, organic food sellers-retailers are trying to make a quick buck by selling organic produce/foods at double of non-organic food by deliberately making it unnecessarily expensive to make it look like an exclusive high end niche food WHILE IGNORING THE FACT THEY ARE UNKNOWINGLY GENTRIFYING THE ORGANIC FARM-GARDEN MOVEMENT AND THIS IS CRIPPLING IT. SO WHILE FARMERS ARE BREAKING THEIR BACKS TO MAKE CHEAP ORGANIC FOODS THESE AGRIBUSINESSES ARE MAKING IT UNNECESSARILY EXPENSIVE AND CREATING A SELF-DESTRUCTIVE GENTRIFICATION PROCESS WITHIN THE ORGANIC FARMING-GARDENING MOVEMENT. Not to forget the fact that they are also very busy trying to create barriers against deliberate sabotage by Monsanto who is planting GMO crops in places where GMO pollen can drift in the air to contaminate and destroy the organic heirloom natural genetic seed varieties. But the organic farmers are fighting back by using rooting-cuttings propagation methods by using non-GMO willows which provides a natural rooting hormone and they are also propagating these 50 to 500 year old willows through the rooting-cuttings method.

did i miss something? does he explain why they choose non-organic methods if organic is just as cost effective, efficient, etc? why isnt everyone switching?

This is some serious marketing bullshit

There shouldn't be two kinds of farming. Organic and conventional agriculture are equally safe and healthy. The difference is that organic excludes use of inputs not based on health or safety but on arbitrary regulations. Conventional agriculture has access to all methods and inputs organic has as well as those organic excludes. Conventional agriculture has the better toolbox.

Not sure he should be bragging about how much more acreage it takes for organic... that is part of the problem

Why?, Because Stock and Demand plays big Factor on the Price of Consumer Comodity.

Moringa can support the world basic medical/food needs plus * Bye Heath food stores. *Moringa Drought resistant trees .Some of them never get water & 25-40 ft they grow even in Asian countries where no other trees grow.These can supply all our basic needs while they heal & detoxify us & Planet -can support the world basic medical/food needs plus * We can grow in 100's of countries.*Moringa God's Miracle Tree! We're Blessed

Organic purchases, by sales dollars are around 4%, by actual amount of food, 2%. those 25% dedicated organic food shoppers must still be buying conventional most of the time, or they are starving to death. If Organic farming farming is not more expensive then where are those extra dollars going to? Who is getting rich on organic at the expense of family food budgets? Time and again, Organic produces 25 to 40% less per acre than conventional, and that's with the fixed N inputs from conventional into organic via manure. You speak of the nutrient cycle, soil -> crop -> animal -> soil but you ignore the significant losses of such nutrients, such as oxidation of fixed N, runoff losses into the oceans (yes even all natural nutrients run off).

So it's still not clear to me why organic food is so expensive if growing it takes less energy and expense

Most of my food comes from Mexico.