Organic and all-natural is not just for hippies anymore. The hot topic amongst the health-obsessed community is the mass consumption of non-fertilized, untouched, non-gmo products  that is marketed  to be healthier for the body, and greener for the environment. However, some skeptics wonder if this food is actually beneficial to the human body or if it is simply just a new way of getting more money out of people.
The researchers at Stanford University’s Center for Health Policy have found evidence that  organic foods provide more vitamins than non-organic foods and are lower in fat. Some  have also found that animals that are raised organically had fewer health problems, better growth,  and fertility. According to Web MD, an internet resource for all things related to health and well-being, researchers discovered that although organic crops had one-third of pesticide residues as the crops grown conventionally, organic foods still fall below the level of safety that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends.
With all these health benefits, why are non-organic foods still dominating grocery store aisles? Believe it or not, there is a downside to these seemingly perfect resources. The USDA estimate that organic foods cost from from 10 to 30 percent more than normal foods and many critics think that stores such asWhole Foods are using organic foods as an excuse to increase the prices.
I decided to put the price of the products and their quality to test, and went around to various major grocery stores.The first store I visited was Whole Foods, known for their wide variety of organic, vegan, and gluten free products and according to their website they claim to be “The healthiest store in America”. The other store I visited was Kroger, which doesn’t sell many organic foods, but is comparably  cheaper.
The total of the food at Whole Foods was $32.69 and the total at Kroger was $20.14 making my groceries at Kroger $12.55 cheaper than what I purchased at  Whole Foods. Research shows that the average American spends $151 a week on food. If people buy food from Whole Foods every day they will be spending on average about $228.83 a week. If one buys his or her food at Kroger, they will be spending $140.98, which is under budget.
I cooked all the food from Whole Foods and Kroger separately, cooking the same exact dish: chicken with steamed vegetables. I had various people sample the dish to determine the flavor quality of each dish without revealing which dish was organic and which was not. As a result, they all agreed that both dishes tasted the same, leaving my investigation to be inconclusive on whether or not the quality lived up to the higher prices
There is still a lot of research that has to be done in order to see if organic food is actually healthier and better tasting, but after making a meal and having different people try it, I came to the conclusion that there is no difference in the tastes. Many believe that organic foods are ‘fake’ and that companies market to fool people into buying their products. However, research based on the amount of nutrients kept in the resources, organic foods are indeed very healthy, fresh, better for the environment and GMO free, and could even reduce the risk of health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease in the long run.Perhaps in this case, climbing on the bandwagon might be the freshest idea.