First Draft: Intro/Lit Review

Organic vs Conventional        1

The Benefits of Organic Cotton versus Conventional Cotton; what makes an on campus College Store choose either?

Introduction

            It seems as though everyday more and more people are searching for new ways to live their lives in a more eco-friendly approach.  Along with the increasing amount of the population becoming more aware of the environment, new developments are also being made in order to help protect it as well.  Whether consumers are more worried about what is healthier for them, or if they are singly concerned with what is best for the environment, we are at a new stage of an eco-friendly market.

Organic cotton, first experimented with to try and find a healthier way for the soil to grow cotton, has become one of the most asked for organic product by consumers (Yeldell, 2006).  The idea of growing organic cotton as a replacement of conventionally grown cotton has caught many consumers’ eyes who are trying to become more ‘green.’  In the past decade big manufacturers, like Wal-Mart for instance, have started working more with designers who will produce organically grown cotton merchandise that they can sell in their stores.  In a survey done by a small business owner in Maine, data concluded that what customers wanted to see in stock was more organic and natural products without the use of pesticides and harmful chemicals (Groening, T.). 

The use of organic cotton has been proven to be better for the soil where grown rather than conventionally grown cotton.  Cotton grown the conventional or chemical way is sprayed numerous times while grown with damaging chemicals and pesticides in order to keep insects from eating away at them.  This research will help to explain how farmers and production companies have found new and innovative ways to grow cotton organically, without the use of these destructive substances.  A lot of research has been done before on the comparison of organically grown cotton versus chemically based, conventionally grown cotton.  What I want to bring to this research subject that is new is that I am going to interview the book store here at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and see why or why not they choose to purchase merchandise made with organic cotton. 

Literature Review

            Overall the research already found comes together in justification, to conclude that growing organic cotton is far better (in many ways) than chemically based, conventional cotton.  A few of the sources cited for the research described organic cotton in the way that it is cotton grown without the use of pesticides, artificial fertilizers, or herbicides (Welch, Sustainable Cotton Project, Yeldell & Green).  Other articles used in the research went to the consumers for data, to find whether people preferred organic versus conventional cotton, or if they just did not care.  Imhoff, Green, Groening, Sizemore and etcetera all reported that when asked, consumers said they would prefer to provide themselves and their families with organically grown cotton fabric merchandise because it is all around healthier in the end. 

            When confronted with some research about the differences between organic and conventional cotton, I would like to find out why or why not the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) does or does not resort to retailers who sells organic fabric merchandise.  When the answer is inquired I want to apply it to this research.  If the co-op store does indeed look to use organic cottons, I will be able to use it as data that consumers and companies are turning towards organic over conventional cotton.  If the co-op store does not look for companies to sell them organic products, or if they just are not aware of it, then I can still use this as information for my research.

            Maria C. Thiry, the author of If the Environment is Important, explained in detail about the pros and cons of using organic versus conventional cottons.  She states that, “physically, organically-grown cotton fibers are identical.  ‘When you analyze the fiber there’s no difference,’ notes Cantrell [vice-president of agricultural research for Cotton Incorporated].  ‘No performance difference, no difference in strength” (Thiry, 2007).  Despite there not being any difference physically, Thiry still went on to explain the chemical and characteristic traits that are far different.  Information pulled from this article will be extremely useful in proving that organic cotton and conventional cotton are much different and cannot even be put in the same categories, even though they are both actually cottons.

            To keep my research unbiased and balanced I am going to use information from the article by Dadd, called Conventional vs. Organic Cotton Clothing.  Throughout this article Dadd kept in mind that there are both benefits and withdrawals for growing, using, and purchasing organically grown cotton and conventionally grown cotton.  It is important to keep an unbiased opinion when writing a research paper, as I have already noticed, and I know that keeping this article in mind is going to really help keep a sense of balance to my text.  The writing I found from Dadd is actually a letter to the editor, along with Dadd’s response, so I am considering this a refereed article.  Since this article is a refereed article, with a set of two responses from an outside source and the editor, I find it more informational because the outside source asked questions that I had in mind as well.

            In general I found that the sources I have chosen to use to help me with my research are going to be very beneficial to me.  Almost all of the articles explained in detail the specific differences in organic and conventional cottons, the benefits as well as the setbacks in both, as well as the uses of both types of organic cottons.  Some of the articles gave me a head start in researching why consumers prefer to buy organic cottons over conventional, and why mainstream manufacturers prefer it as well.  In my research I have found that although the farming and production of organic cotton may be more time consuming, it is far better for the soil and all around environment than conventionally or chemically based cottons.  Furthermore, some of the things I need to finish researching is what products the IUP co-op bookstore chooses to use and why, and if when finding out how much healthier organic cotton is, will they want to change their minds (if not already using organic cotton merchandise)?