I am a student, and like a hefty number of people living in Canada, student or not, I do not have huge amounts of money to be spending on groceries. I already spend a great share of my income on food, but at the prices charged for organic products, I simply can't afford it, at least without giving up on other aspects of my spending.
This is certainly not news. The organics debate (at least the pricing aspect of it) has been charging along for quite some time now. The common conclusion is quite simple: eating organic foods is reserved for those of us who can afford it. It is a luxury. Sure, you can grow a wide range of organic foods in your backyard for a much cheaper price, but the reality is that the majority of people do not have the time, space or most importantly, the patience, to do so.
In my own experience I've certainly run into people who think having expensive organics is an awful thing. Price gougers; bourgeoisie; capitalist exploiters: some of the phrases I've heard associated with organics in Canada (you'll notice the rather socialist leanings of some of these remarks. For more, I highly recommend taking a tour of the Trent Campus...).
A month or so ago I visited the Carrot Common in Toronto, a grouping of 'green' stores, headlined by a massive grocery store where nearly everything was organic. While it was a nice place to be, I came to realize that although I could be healthier, my grocery bill would probably be three to four times more expensive if I shopped there.
But here's the thing. Having organics so expensive is not necessarily a bad thing. This is simply because it is a relatively new product trying to make its way into an already overfilled market. If we look at products that today are very common we can quickly realize that the organics market is only at its earliest stages. For example, when computers first became consumer goods and battled the typewriter industry, they were outrageously expensive and reserved only for those with a nice chunk of change. But now the majority of people in Canada have or have access to a computer. Cars, too.
This is all because of the law of economies of scale: as more of a good is produced overall, the marginal cost of producing each good falls. Quite simply, it's like buying bulk. The more you make, the cheaper each individual one becomes. Compared to 'regular' foods, organics are a tiny share of the market and therefore are more expensive. But as they become more popular, the cost will go down. But in the meantime, the market has to start somewhere.
The other argument I'd pose is that organics (at least the ones that aren't price gouged and also the ones that are local) reflect what the more realistic economic cost should be. Although we've gotten used to our food industry, being able to buy whatever we want and whenever we want at remarkably low prices is a function of a lot of dangerous processes we're now learning might be more trouble than they're worth. Globalization, pesticide use and agricultural subsidies are making our food overly abundant and overly cheap, at the expense of our health, the world's farmers and the environment. More expensive food is seen as a bad thing (which largely, it is), but maybe more expensive food is a reality if we want to be living sustainably.
The expensiveness of being 'environmental' or 'green' is not reserved for organics. Renewable energy systems, hybrid cars and 'green' clothing products are also expensive and largely out of reach for many people. Having a completely solar powered home is a nice idea, but few can afford it, right now. So yes, these environmental products may be expensive and out of reach, but soon enough they'll be in the market place so the common-person can afford them.
The danger is if we denounce these products as being too luxurious, effectively reducing their desirability in the market and leaving them to go extinct. Everything has to start somewhere and unfortunately, it often starts with the rich.
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