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Buying organic food can have a big, positive effect on the environment as well by reducing pesticides and fertilizers that harm soil, waterways, and wildlife. But organic food does cost more. Leon's suggestion is to make an organic budget. "Say it's $1 a week -- and nothing more -- then what I would do is say, 'How do I get the most out of that dollar?' "
The budget organic can take two approaches: buy organic when the price is right (i.e. not too much higher than conventional) or buy organic when the conventional choice tends to retain pesticide residue. Produce with high pesticide residues includes apples, cherries, grapes, peaches, strawberries, celery, green beans, lettuce and winter squash, Leon says.
The high price of organic food stems largely from supply and demand economics: There's more demand than supply, so prices are higher. With organic milk, the supply is beginning to increase a little, but not enough to make a dent in the price, says Carolyn Dimitri, an economist with the USDA's Economic Research Service and co-author of "Retail and Consumer Aspects of the Organic Milk Market," published in May.
Organic food can also cost more because the costs of production are higher. Up to 70% of the cost of raising organic chickens is the special feed, which costs 50% to 100% more than conventional feed grain, according to a December 2006 report from the USDA's Economic Research Service. Organic poultry flocks also tend to be smaller, have a higher mortality rate and require a longer production cycle, the report says.
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Some economists argue the true costs of conventional food are not reflected in the price consumers pay. The negative effects of conventional agricultural production on water, soil, air, wildlife and humans total $5.7 billion to $16.9 billion a year, economists Erin M. Tegtmeier and Michael D. Duffy of Iowa State University concluded in a 2004 study published in the International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability. The study shows "consumers pay for food well beyond the grocery store checkout" in higher utility bills, taxes and in declining environmental and personal health.
Such "hidden" costs are part of the reason why advocates for green buying practices argue consumers need to rethink their consumption patterns and focus less on the cost of individual items.
Buy green by buying less often
That, in fact, is what Nau is trying to do with its outdoor apparel. From the start, the company's creators thought about the criteria for the "ideal garment." One of those criteria is durability.Nau expects its clothes to last through 10 years of wear and tear and changing fashion, says Ian Yolles, Nau's vice president of brand communication. A Nau jacket may cost $180, but in the long run, it's cheaper than buying three less-expensive jackets that fall apart or go out of style.
"You can buy a piece of apparel, and if it isn't constructed in a way that will ensure it will last over a long period of time, it's not particularly sustainable," Yolles says. Still, Yolles admits, Nau's approach requires some re-education.
"It begins to alter one's perception of the price-value equation," Yolles says.
Published June 29, 2007
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