It is a dilemma faced daily by food shoppers in Canada and U.S — is organic food really safer or just more expensive? According to the 2012 U.S. Census of Agriculture purchases of organic food have hit a plateau as consumers struggle with the pricing. They no doubt like the idea — as stated by the U.S. National Organic Program — that “synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, irradiation, and genetic engineering may not be used in growing organic foods” But is this useful information or just scary talk? There are lots of things that cannot be used in the growing of food. Canada doesn’t permit nor condone the use of sewage sludge in agriculture or the entry of such products. The picture in the U.S appears to suggest that despite the availability of organic food, consumers are increasingly hard-pressed to accept the added expense and sales have gone flat. A pint of berries cannot be justified at $3.99 rather than $2.99 because they left out the sewage sludge. But that dubious proposition is put before shoppers daily. Supporters of organic say the benefits have not been communicated well enough to consumers. Still, evidence that non-organic food is threatening seems hard to find. Who died or got ill from buying non-organic food?