“it doesnt taste the same and it doesnt cost the same”
Produce that has traveled hundreds or even thousands of miles will have to be sprayed with some kind of preservative. If you grew up eating this stuff, the taste of an all-natural, organic fruit that was not exposed to pesticides and got to your table only a couple of days after being picked will be strange at first. Since coming to Israel, I’ve noticed that I eat a lot more salad. At first, I was unnerved by the taste of the produce, because it was just so different- but in a good way! Because everything here is grown locally and in season, not frozen (how else can you get strawberries in midwinter??) it is so much fresher and juicier, and I don’t know how I’ll ever go back to the bland stuff in the US!
Organic farmers need to pay extra to the government in order to receive certification, so this naturally raises the price of the produce slightly. Also, the market for organically grown food is still small, although it’s growing at an exponential rate. As the demand increases, more farmers will switch over to organic, and then the prices will likely go down as organic produce becomes widely accepted, not feared and scorned.