When only a small part of the population has the privilege of affording the luxury of buying from the organic market.
María Camila Dávila (she/her) // Crew Writer
Mia Antinori (they/them) // Contributing Visuals & Caroline Zhang (all) // Contributing Visuals
This month, a friend of mine showed me an app she was very excited about. On Yuka – Food and Cosmetic Scanner, you can upload images of the products you’re thinking of buying—from personal hygiene products to food—and the app will show you on a scale from one per cent to 100 per cent how safe the product is to use or eat. For example, she told me she was thinking of buying a new shampoo, so she uploaded more than five different types and brands. According to the app, almost all of the products didn’t pass the test. As a result, the app showed why each product would be dangerous to use or consume. And yes, cancer was always among the top five reasons.
The few products that remained were the healthiest and had something in common: they were the most expensive on the list.
In the last decade, there has been a growing global interest in the organic market, principally driven by consuming safe food products and concern about wellness and eco-friendly practices. According to “Examining consumers’ willingness to pay premium price for organic food”—an article by Tong Hu and other researchers in the weekly international journal Nature—this phenomenon is prevalent in Europe and North America where the organic market is expected to reach $272.18 billion US by 2027.
Even though it may seem like a big amount, it is not surprising. As stated by the same article, organic food and products cost four to five times more than the conventional ones, “creating a significant disparity between consumers’ desire to purchase and their willingness to pay the premium.” Moreover, a person earning the minimum wage cannot afford to buy the green tag.
There’s no doubt that buying in the organic market has some benefits, but just like investing in your mental health with therapy, it ends up being a privilege that only a small percentage of the society can afford.
As a cancer survivor, I would love to be able to buy every single organic product that reduces the risks of diseases. However, I am also an international student and cannot afford buying my monthly groceries at Whole Foods. Sometimes, even the choice is not on the table.
The Green Marketing
According to the Canada Organic Trade Association and AgCanada: The Latest Canadian Daily Agriculture News, in 2025 the Canadian organic market had grown to approximately $11.88 billion, a 24 per cent increase from 2023. How is it possible that a market has grown significantly in the last few years even if it is highly expensive to afford?
The green marketing’s target is to communicate why and how organic products can be safe, better for your health and made by eco-friendly practices. Moreover, like every marketing experience, this green marketing has an important psychological element. As noted by the article in Nature, “consumers are inclined to buy eco-products or services that offer self-expressive advantages and/or self-satisfaction as they provoke a favorable emotional state resulting from proactive assistance to others.”
Social media advertisements and every single propaganda by the market is sending us a message. If we could be better at taking care of ourselves and the environment, why not do it? However, is it really fair that this option is not available for everyone? Why is it that only a small percentage of humans can afford to take care of themselves? Isn’t it unfair that, in the end, a market that prides itself on caring for and improving the world is closing its doors to half of society?
Since June 2026, the minimum wage in British Columbia has been $18.25 per hour. If a person works full-time, they will earn $740 per week or $367 per week if they are working part-time. Under this circumstance, residents of the Metro Vancouver area are struggling to pay the basic needs like rent, utilities and transportation, among others. After using most of their paycheck to cover essential expenses, the amount of money that remains for grocery shopping requires people to prioritize the most affordable products on the market. If someone can barely afford groceries while earning minimum wage, spending more on organic products is simply unimaginable and not a realistic option.
We circle back to the beginning: how useful is an app that tells me organic products are better for my health if I don’t have the budget to afford them?