Many people all around the world have never really thought that there is a difference between local food and organic. In fact, there is a difference. Locally grown food may or may not be grown organically and not all organic food is locally grown. Nowadays the food fight has stirred the hornet’s nest in a manner of speaking. So much talk has been going on as to the relative merits of local food and organic. Opinions are being discussed regularly in magazines, on websites and talk shows. People all over the place have contributed more than their two pennies worth. Never before has there been there an awareness of which is the right food to eat. The pertinent question remains, which is better, which is greener?

Local food as understood is the food grown locally within 50 or 100-mile radius from where one lives. Handling is better because of the short distance the food has to travel. Still fresh as the day it was picked. It concerns them how food was shipped and handled than how food was grown. But some locally grown food is not organic. Some farms still use pesticides for better yields. But still many people care for their taste than any other. For them it makes sense to eat a locally grown food which is not refrigerated. Because it retains most of its delicate flavour than one shipped in a refrigerated plane from another part of the globe. However much of the concern has been shifted to economic concerns. Eating locally grown food would mean supporting the local farmers and the idea that you know where your food comes from. And the knowledge is comforting that one knows how the food is being grown and farmed. Some still believed that the village-based economies should take top position. Many contended that buying organic or non-local produce is a careless move for the community’s economics. It automatically ensures fair compensation for the growers.

But the fact that not all locally grown food is organic had some people worried. Organic literally means that no pesticides or synthetic fertilizers have been employed in the farming of the produce. It follows strict rules and regulations concerning farming procedures. So some would take organic food over local food regardless of where they come from. This is one way to support environmentally-friendly farming practices. People buy organic food for various health reasons. The launching of biotech foods is increasing the ranks of organic buyers because buying organic is the only way one is assured foods are free of genetically modified organisms. Besides organic foods are almost available anywhere. It can be seen on the shelves of supermarkets. Organic food has become available to all people from all walks of life. It means big business and big profits are coming in.

There are many claims banded around that organic food contains more vitamins than local or conventional food. Organic food is made without preservatives, chemicals or hormones. It is all natural, the way nature intended food to be, and safer to eat because one does not have to worry about eating residue from contaminated water and soil and it causes the least environmental damage. Organic produce does support our bodies and the environment as well. Every person needs to take care of his or her health and that is equally important as taking care of our world. The move is to urge farmers to farm organically because it will do more good in the long run supporting organic all the time.

But after all has been said and done the final answer to the pertinent question, whether to eat local food or organic would rebound to personal choice. Everything is a matter of choice. Local food, conventional or organic each meets a need. Both are smart choices because they set the market in motion. Everybody would want a local food grown organically. But there are some things have to be sacrificed. Its a choice between low prices and convenient shopping or the damage that the consumers pay for in water pollution, toxic pesticide exposure and the loss of small farms but whatever it is we pay the price just the same. So whatever choice you go for buy it. The point is to be aware of our choices because we inject some values into the market. We should try to buy whatever is in season and this way we don’t let media hype influenced our judgment. We should learn to separate marketing hype from valuable words. The choice is still with the consumers.