I totally agree! While the certified organic label is valuable and informative in some regards, as you pointed out, it also has limitiations. This is especially the case with animal food. Whether certified or not, I think the best source of food is a farm that goes above and beyond the organic standards by being completely sustainable. Joel Salatin’s Polyface farm seems to be the gold standard. The challenge is finding such a farm locally.

The fact that vaccination can help prevent sickness doesn’t serve as “scientific proof” that justifies treating livestock with antibiotics and vaccines.

Instead of improving the strength of their immunity through healthier habits, many people rely on vaccines for common illnesses like the flu as a crutch. Likewise, conventionally raised livestock are treated with vaccines and antibiotics as a preventative measure to compensate for the undesirable conditions that they’re raised in and the unnatural diets that they’re fed. As such, these measures don’t produce healthier livestock. Ironically, they instead make it easier to produce livestock that are less healthy.

I think this is true to an extent, but you also have to consider that it can be more costly for farmers to follow organic practices, especially in regard to the price of certification. In addition, as seen with Walmart and organic milk, competition can have an undesirable effect by negatively impacting the quality of organic products.

It’s a shame that some people truly can’t afford organic food, but for many people, I think it mostly comes down to a matter of priorities and making a choice to spend less money on less important items.

A few great ways to save money on organic food is to grow it yourself or to buy it from a local farmer. Because organic certification is expensive, some small farmers don’t bother with it but still believe in and follow organic practices. Such a farmer is likely to charge less for the food they produce.