Is Organic Still Sustainable? an Investigation of Consumer Perceptions of Food Production Sustainability

There is a belief that organic food is sustainable. The problem that has arisen is that organic food may no longer be as sustainable as it once was. Initially, organic food was produced by local and small production farms. Today, however, they are mass-produced and may be engaging in the same kind of carbon-producing practices as mass-produced goods. Nonetheless, despite the change in production, many consumers continue to believe that organic foods are more sustainable than their nonorganic counterparts. This may be due to the curated image of organic food through marketing. The local community displays organic food as sustainable because it is natural, yet it is unclear if organic food actually contains any growth promotion supplements. The problem then becomes that the consumption of organic foods will increase; causing the same kind of damage to the environment as nonorganic foods. More research is needed to uncover this potentially harmful production practice as more organic food is purchased. The goal of this project is to assess consumer misperceptions related to the sustainability of organic foods versus nonorganic foods. The expectation here is consumers will perceive organic foods to be far more sustainable than they actually are. Using a survey-based approach, a sample of 80 participants will be asked about their perceptions of food sustainability practices (i.e., cost, carbon footprint emission, water electricity consumption) of organic versus nonorganic foods. Results, findings, implications, limitations and future limitations will also be discussed.