Top 4 reasons why organic foods are so expensive

Certified organic foods are more expensive than the non-organic ones. This is mainly because it is expensive to produce them with ecological and social factors in mind. Following are the reasons why organic foods are more expensive.

More labor

In conventional farming, chemicals and pesticides are used to reduce the cost of production by getting the job done quickly. Organic farmers have to hire more workers to do the tasks faster. They do hand-weeding, clean-up of polluted water, etc. that increases the labour cost.

Demand is more than the supply

The retail sales of organic foods have become more. Many people now prefer organic foods over non-organic foods. But there is not enough organic farmland available to meet the demand. Organic farms produce less than the conventional firms. So, the cost is high.

Higher cost of fertiliser

Conventional farmers use chemical fertilisers and sewage sludge for farming. These are less costly. Organic farmers don’t use these. They use compost and animal manure which are expensive to ship.

Crop rotation

Organic farmers don’t use chemical weed killers. They conduct crop rotations for keeping their crops healthy and preventing weed growth. This way smaller volumes of crops are produced compared to the conventional method.

The post-harvesting costs of organic foods are also high. Organic farmers don’t use synthetic pesticides or fertilisers. Natural farming practices require additional costs. Natural farming prevents pests and diseases and so the foods produced are healthy. For these reasons, organic foods cost more than conventional foods.