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I’d go for organic

9 May, 2008 in Crops, Land by Rachel P Lorenzen | 2 comments

The great organic myths rebutted, Thursday, 8 May 2008, in the Independent

Recent research suggests that if all farming was organic, the slight decrease in yields in the northern hemisphere would be more than matched by overall increases elsewhere, leading to a slight increase in total food production. Long-term trials in the US found organic yields matching those from non-organic systems, with organic farming outperforming non-organic in drought years. Even with the uncertainties, in a world of increasing scarcity of fossil fuels, organic farming provides the only environmentally, or economically, sustainable system of feeding the world. Organic farming and food do not have all the answers. But solar-powered, animal and wildlife friendly, pesticide- and additive-free farming and food, is where we’re heading.

In short: organic farming is good for the environement, it is more sustainable, it doesn’t use pesticides, it is healthier for farmers, organic food contains more nutrients, and demand for organic food is growing. Read the explanations to these facts in Peter Melchett’s post.

Despite all the ifs and buts, why not at least give it a go?

2 comments

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9 May, 2008 at 6:14 pm

Pieter Ypma

Unfortunately this is always a dogmatic debate where it should be pragmatic. Organic farming may be only 60 years old Bio-Dynamic farming is more than 100 years and the small total market share after all these years seems to indicate that there may be some fundamental problems with the uptake.

The real question is if we make conventional farming more organic and organic farming more conventional what would the acceptance be and what would the beneficial impact on the environment be?

Pieter

14 May, 2008 at 12:11 pm

Rachel P Lorenzen

I agree totaly, it just does not seem interesting enough to be taken up by governments and agro industries alike to at least develop a broader base of research on organic approaches to agriculture for the benefit of the environment and for long-term beneficial returns to the people.