Local Farmer's Markets/ Organic Stores

You may not have known this, but there are many local farmer's markets where you can buy organic foods. One of them in Chicago is Green City Market. http://www.chicagogreencitymarket.org/ says that it is Chicago's only year-round farmer's market. Obviously in the winter it's inside, but the outdoor market just opened on May 12th and goes back to indoor on October 30th. This is a great place to get organic food, but they also have a lot more to offer. Green City Market holds monthly Edible Garden Workshops for people to learn about the gardening process. They also have a bi-monthly "Know Your Farmer" series.
Another place to buy organic food in the Chicago area is New Leaf Natural Grocery Inc. One thing that's great about New Leaf is that it is less expensive than most organic stores. They offer weekly organic produce boxes for the lowest available cost. Other than the produce boxes, they sell all other kinds of organic food from hormone free meat to dairy and coffee products. This is a family owned business that keeps customers informed about newsletters and petitions. Visit the store's website, http://www.newleafnatural.net/, for their hours, location, and more information.
Green Grocer Chicago is another great place to get organic food. Employees of Green Grocer have researched to find the most delicious and healthy foods, all of which are organically produced. http://www.greengrocerchicago.com/ says that Green Grocer works closely with Midwestern farmers to give customers the freshest food while helping the local economy and agriculture. Working with Midwestern farmers helps because they are able to reduce harmful CO2 emissions by eliminating the need for long distance transportation.

Persuasive Arguments

On http://newfarm.rodaleinstitute.org/features/2006/0906/freespeech/bowman.shtml, Greg Bowman, a supporter of organic food, has a very good argument about why organic food is good and should be more present in our local communities. He uses pathos by addressing peoples' wants and needs. He says, "The food system we have now is good at producing lots of food at a fairly low price—we like that. Our food system is not so good at producing healthy people, healthy rural communities or healthy connections between eaters and growers. If we stop to think about it, we don’t like that" In this paragraph, he is saying that he knows that fast food is cheap and quick to get, but he also knows that people need and want to be healthy. He also uses logos when he explains that almost any food we eat can be produced organically. This is a good example of logos because the audience can now think about what kind of foods they like, and they now know that those food can all be more naturally produced. http://www.edenfoods.com/articles/view.php?articles_id=61 has a persuasive essay that also is in favor of organic foods. It has established ethos by stating that they have evidence that organic food is safer, more nutritious, better tasting, better for the environment, and better economically for growers and producers compared to commercially grown and produced food. By saying that there is evidence, the writer is showing that the information is credible and the readers can trust it. This is also a good persuasive argument because the writer addresses the fact that there are opposing viewpoints that also have arguments. On http://www.myeatinghealthy.com/persuasive-speech-on-eating-healthy/, the persuasive writing is not as good. I say this because although it is an opinion piece, the writer claimed his or her opinions to be valid facts. The writer said that organic food making you feel better is a valid fact. This is probably true for many people, but it is not always true. Also, saying that being less alert is based on the bad food people are eating is not always true, either. There are many other factors that can also make people less or more alert. So, it is good to put your opinions in a persuasive essay or speech, but it is bad to claim what you think as a valid fact.

Down Sides

Although eating organic does have its benefits, there are also down sides to it. For one thing, organic foods are about forty percent more expensive than regular foods. So many people who would like to eat only organic food can't afford to. http://www.medindia.net/patients/patientinfo/organicfood_disadvantages.htm says that all soil and water are already contaminated, so even organic food is partially contaminated. They grow everything naturally, but critics say that so many years of pollution can contaminate it anyway. According to http://www.emaxhealth.com/14/277.html, many studies of organic crops show no superiority over conventional crops. A lot of people believe that organic food is just a hype, and may be a myth. Although organic crops are much more expensive, their appearance is less appetizing than conventional produce. Even though appearance really doesn't matter when it comes to food, imperfect appearance turns some people off to it. http://hubpages.com/hub/Shopping-Green says that it also costs a lot more to raise livestock humanely than it is to keep then caged up. Pasture raised animals need more space, giving them organic feed is a lot more expensive than giving them non-organic, inexpensive grain. Although organic food does have its downsides, the benefits outweigh them to me. Remember, eating organic is healthier for both you and the earth.