Organic food is expensive

Unfortunately, at the moment retailers are charging artificially high prices. I was in Tesco last week which is a rare occurrence as I shop locally where possible, and I nearly died when I saw the prices being charged for organic yogurt and eggs compared to the non-organic brands. I understand that we have to pay more for organic produce because there are more crop failures due to the fact that the farmers cannot use pesticides, but what is an acceptable percentage and does this vary from product to product.

Should organic fish be 10 percent more expensive than non organic fish and vegetables 20 per cent etc? If we have to pay more for crop failures how does this work with processed food that uses less fresh ingredients and higher volumes? Should we still have to pay a premium or are they just jumping on the band wagon and making us pay higher prices? At the moment most organic items are too highly priced to be affordable to most people. Furthermore, many argue that there is not enough evidence that supports the benefits of eating organic food to warrant the additional cost. For example its difficult to quantify; can organic potatoes be 10% better for us, should we then pay an extra 10% on the price? or are we paying for a lifestyle choice? Is this not the same as any branded clothes, toiletries, cars? We could buy cheaper clothes, toiletires or cars as they all do the same as dearer branded ones yet we choose them because it makes us feel better and due to peer pressure and advertising.

Organic Food Safety and Benefits

There is evidence that organic farms are more sustainable and environmentally sound, among other benefits. These claims, however, are subject to dispute and are not settled among scientists.

Another contentious issue surrounding organic produce is the fact that nearly 70 per cent of produce sold in UK supermarkets is imported, generating thousands of food miles to get to its destination and causing damage to the environment.

Often organic food produced in England is sent from one side of the country to the distribution warehouse at the other side, only to be sent back again to the Supermarket. One supermarket has been run a pilot where the farmer and his tractor deliver the organic produce to the supermarket direct. Now that is progress!

Non organic food does contain pesticides of varying amount. Many toxicologists and scientists consider the amount to be so low as to have no effect on the consumer. For example, have you fallen ill the past due to the chemicals in your food? I doubt it! Only those that have an allergic reaction or eat vast quantities of the same food may do so. Food is not allowed to be sold by law that is unsafe.

In todays society, it is virtually impossible to grow produce pestivide free and even organically grown foods do not claim to be completely free of chemical residues. Presticides are carried in the air and rivers. Non GM crops around the world have been found to contain Genetically Modified seedlings as these have been carried in the air from GM farms miles away.

Organic food has “sold out”

Organic food began as a small movement decades ago with gardeners and farmers rejecting the use of conventional non organic practices. With the growth of the Organic food market now outpacing much of the food industry many big companies have moved into this market. With these large often multi national companies, and with the creation of a legal certification framework such as the Soil Assocaiton, there is worry that the very definition of organic food will change from what it used to be and become just another mass produced brand which will over time be replaced by another emerging sector.

For example, Heinz is producing an organic version of baked beans and has different ingredients and packaging, it uses 100% certified organic vine-ripened tomatoes. The label will also reflect an organic quality–with Heinz traditional red label replaced with a green version. Another difference: the organic version will cost about 50% more than regular Heinz. Does certified organic vine-ripened tomatoes cost 50 percent more to buy when bought in bulk, I doubt it!

By keeping it small are we not keeping it beautiful and under control?

A final thought…… Organic is more than just a brand, its a way of life!

If you are at your wits end in trying to develop a fitness marketing plan that can help your business go places, then fret no more. This article aims to shed light on a very important yet overlooked aspect of the fitness game. And who knows, you may well find the ideal fitness marketing plan after you are through!

The uniqueness of the service industry lies in the fact that it is self-promoting. That actions speak louder than words is best shown by services. Similarly in the fitness training industry too, the best advertisement for your fitness set-up or programs lies in what is being delivered.

So no matter how many ‘out-of-the-box’ fitness marketing plans you may have come across, nothing works unless your clients love you. The only way to ensure that is to do your job well. But will that suffice, is what you may be thinking right now….

Well then, to dispel any confusion, why not make your own ingenious fitness marketing plan? The key here is to try to win over your clients completely and leave no stone unturned in trying to do so. And how do you go about doing that?

Most importantly you may try to make your clients feel that they are getting great value for money. However, that does not mean that you make them do a whole new set of exercises other than what they have paid for!

It lies in some tit-bits like making small adjustments to the postures of the clients while they exercise. While you may know that it is absolutely unnecessary to do so, the client will think that it was something absolutely necessary! Although it may seem a bit of a ’sneaky tactic’, it can definitely pay lots of dividends in the long run.

You can also tweak conventional training programs according to the general preferences of your clients and develop your own fitness training program. Give that a fancy name and voila! You have a brand new customized fitness training program that your clients can brag about outside. This can be another useful component of your fitness marketing plan!

Another weapon of choice might be being a ‘bit of a show-off’. I am not suggesting that you take your vest off and show your eight pack abs to your clients while they are working out! That will be downright disastrous! What I am suggesting is that you ’show them how it’s done’.

So when your client is doing the bench-press why not work out along with him? When he tires (which he probably will) after thirty sets and you do not even break sweat in doing that, just look at the awe-struck face of his! It is a harmless way of winning some brownie points from your clientele and lots of good reputation too.

Hope you got some ideas for developing your own fitness marketing plan from this article. Remember that the key is to improvise and know your target market! For further ideas check out some of my other articles.

Each individual has a risk tolerance that should not be ignored. Any good stock broker or financial planner knows this, and they should make the effort to help you determine what your risk tolerance is. Then, they should work with you to find investments that do not exceed your risk tolerance.

Determining one’s risk tolerance involves several different things. First, you need to know how much money you have to invest, and what your investment and financial goals are.

For instance, if you plan to retire in ten years, and you’ve not saved a single penny towards that end, you need to have a high risk tolerance – because you will need to do some aggressive – risky – investing in order to reach your financial goal.

On the other side of the coin, if you are in your early twenties and you want to start investing for your retirement, your risk tolerance will be low. You can afford to watch your money grow slowly over time.

Realize of course, that your need for a high risk tolerance or your need for a low risk tolerance really has no bearing on how you feel about risk. Again, there is a lot in determining your tolerance.

For instance, if you invested in the stock market and you watched the movement of that stock daily and saw that it was dropping slightly, what would you do?

Would you sell out or would you let your money ride? If you have a low tolerance for risk, you would want to sell out… if you have a high tolerance, you would let your money ride and see what happens. This is not based on what your financial goals are. This tolerance is based on how you feel about your money!

Again, a good financial planner or stock broker should help you determine the level of risk that you are comfortable with, and help you choose your investments accordingly.

Your risk tolerance should be based on what your financial goals are and how you feel about the possibility of losing your money. It’s all tied in together.

As a relatively new investor I am always looking for those who have more experience in investing. I recently found two computer geeks, one of whom is a former major stockbroker, actually he wrote the software for a major investment firm. The stocks they have recommended thus far have been good ones.