Organic food and farming
Last updated: May 18, 2008.
Have you noticed the organic section in
your local grocery
store? It's the one where the fruit and vegetables look exactly the
same but carry a 50 percent higher price tag! But, seriously, you
might be wondering what's so special about organic food. Is it
really better for you? And what's the deal with organic clothes? How
does that work? If you've confused about exactly what "organic"
means, what the benefits are, and whether it's worth paying the
extra, you've come to the right place. In this handy guide,
we'll give you a short introduction to the subject and then lots of
links so you can explore all sides of the issue in more detail.
Photo: A box of freshly delivered organic
vegetables.
Many organic growers deliver directly by the box, cutting out stores
entirely and building powerful long-term relationships with customers.
Organic in a nutshell
Organic food is produced without the use of artificial
fertiziliers or pesticides (insect and bug killers) and many people
buy it because they think it's better for their health. Whether that's
true or not is still debated, but there are lots of other reasons for
going organic. Intensive agriculture gives us cheap and
plentiful food, but it's also one of the biggest sources of
environmental pollution. According
to a 1999 report by the World
Resources Institute, half of all the commercial fertiliser ever
produced has been applied since 1984. Fertilizers—and the much
more deadly pesticides and herbicides (weed killers) used with
them—ultimately find their way into rivers, streams, and seas.
Sometimes they break down harmlessly, but they're just as likely to
build up and bioaccumulate in creatures that eat them
(including humans). Organic food, grown without artifical chemicals,
is one way to help reduce the problem.
What about organic cotton clothes? You don't eat clothes, so
where's the benefit there? Consider where the cotton comes from and
how it's grown. Cotton is the world's favorite—and most
polluting—fiber. Much of it is grown in developing countries using
labor practices many of us would find shocking in the 21st century.
It's not uncommon to find young children working 8-12 hours a day in
the cotton fields when they should be in school. In 2007, a report
in the Hindustan Times suggested there were 400,000 ("four lakh")
children working in Indian cotton fields, with over half of them
below the age of 14. Whether they're children or adults, cotton workers
have to
wander through the fields spraying their crops with pesticides; about
$7 billion worth of pesticides (much of it highly toxic) is sprayed
on cotton each year. Buying organic clothes helps farmers in
developing countries who have chosen not to use pesticides.
Many people find it puzzling that organic products are more
expensive. After all, you're doing away with expensive chemicals...
so shouldn't it be cheaper? Organic is typically a much
smaller scale and more labor-intensive way of farming and that's why
it costs more. As a responsible consumer, it's up to you to decide
where to put your money. Are you happy to buy more of products that
may have been grown in a harmful and irresponsible way? Or are you
willing to pay more (or, potentially, get less for your money) buying
organic products that may
help to protect the environment and the workers who produce them?
Links for further research
Cool stuff for schools: Introductions for kids
and teachers
Pesticides, herbicides, toxics, and other
chemicals
Fertilizers and impacts on water
Groundwater and drinking water impacts
Health issues
Mothers and children
News, articles, and journalism
Food: articles on food and farming from journalist
George Monbiot's website.-
Supermarkets: articles on supermarket power from
journalist George Monbiot's website.
-
Organic food and health: the evidence: by Shane
Heaton
-
Low Sperm Counts Blamed on Pesticides in U.S. Water:
by Stefan Lovgren
for National Geographic News, April 27, 2005.
-
Hermaphrodite Frogs Caused By Popular Weed Killer?:
By Bijal P. Trivedi, National Geographic Today, April 16, 2002.
-
Low
Sperm Count, Quality in Rural Areas Tied to Herbicides, Pesticides:
Following an earlier study that found that men in rural mid-Missouri
had lower sperm counts and quality than their peers in urban centers, a
University of Missouri-Columbia researcher has identified and linked
three agricultural chemicals to the problem.
- Selected news articles
-
Can the planet feed us?: by Alex Kirby, BBC News. An
interesting background article about the pressure food production is
putting on the planet.
-
In praise of the organic environment: by Marion
Nestle, World Economic Forum, 2005.
- British organic food sales soar: BBC News, Dec 2005.
- Schools urged to use organic food: BBC News, Sep
2005.
- Farms lagging on organic food: BBC News, Feb 2005.
- Organic food imports are down: BBC News, April 2004.
- Fairtrade mark for UK organic food: BBC News, Jan
2003.
-
Organic farming a realistic choice: by Alex Kirby,
BBC News, 30 May, 2002.
- San Diego
Sushi Tuna Found High in Mercury: Interesting report from Got
Mercury (a project of the Turtle Island Restoration Network).
- Bird-killing pesticides outlawed in Scotland: News
story from The Scotsman.
- Introduction
of National Organic Standards in the USA: A 2002 news.
Critics
- Uprooting the organic claims by Simon Cox, BBC
News, April 26, 2007: "Sales of organic produce are booming on the back
of alleged benefits to our health and the environment, as well as
claims of higher standards of animal welfare. But are we being seduced
by "feel good" claims that don't stand up to scientific scrutiny?"
- The costly fraud that is organic food by Dick
Taverne, The Guardian, May 6, 2004: "Organic farming is a billion-pound
industry... Its main contribution will be to sustain poverty and
malnutrition."
- The
Truth About Organic Foods: A highly critical book by Alex Avery,
with a companion website.
- A Nasty Campaign Against Organic Food: Donella
Meadows, The Global Citizen, March 9, 2000.
-
Unsafe
at any price? Different Standards for organic luvvies: By Robert
Bate,
Wall Street Journal Europe, 1999.
- The risky nature of organics: Growing Produce In Manure
Raises Concerns: By John Berlau, Investor's Business Daily, March
3, 1999.
- Consumers swallow organic food claims: A 2005
article from China Daily. Chinese consumers are warned to beware of
fake organic food, thought to represent 10 per cent of all green food
in Beijing.
- Organics
Under Fire: The U.S. Debate Continues: by Ronnie Cummins:
"Industrial agriculture is coordinating a slander campaign against
their number one threat - organic agriculture."
- Arguing for and against organic foods. Try these two companion articles from the UK's Independent newspaper:
Useful reports
Government and official organizations
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and
campaign groups
-
Soil
Association: The UK's leading environmental charity promoting
sustainable, organic farming and championing human health.
Website contains an extensive
information centre and
library.
-
Friends of the Earth UK: Campaign for Real Food:
Campaigning for organics and locally produced food and against
genetically modified (GM) foods.
-
Northwest
Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides: Campaign group in the US.
-
Organic
Consumers Association: For the labeling of genetically engineered,
biotech, GMO, and Novel food. Also encourages organic food and
pesticide reduction.
-
Organic Trade
Association: An on-line resource for consumers interested in
organic food and textiles. It contains recipes, articles, activities
for children, and inspiration.
-
Pesticides Action
Network (PAN)-UK: Explains just what's so bad about pesticides.
-
Why Organic?:
A more consumer oriented website from the UK Soil Association: "You may
have seen the label 'organic' on food when you are shopping, heard that
it's good for you (and are not quite sure why), maybe thought it costs
more pennies and asked "is it worth it". This website, brought to you
by the Soil Association, tells you why."
Organic certification
Organic farming
Organic gardening
Organic cotton and clothes
Did you know it takes about a third of a pound of chemicals to make
one cotton T-shirt?
Organic restaurants, cafes, and eating places
Organic box schemes, organic food shops, and
organic produce
Local produce
Genetically Modified (GM)/transgenic foods
History of the organic movement
Resources not available on the web
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