Do organic food and sustainability go under the same umbrella?
Despite my commitment to adopting a sustainable diet, I realized that in the end I am not very aware of the methods of growing food and their impact on the planet. I accepted the generally accepted generalizations about sustainable diets such as the idea of plant-based, organic, and GMO-free.
Agriculture seen from above is the tool that allows us to feed the world and has been doing so for about 10,000 years. Agriculture and livestock made it possible for civilizations to exist. Growing plants requires climatic stability and regularity over the seasons. In recent years, a new requirement has been added: sustainability. Due to unsustainable practices in recent years the genetic diversity of crops has decreased by 75%, half of the fish stocks have been fully exploited. Despite intensive production that has led to the sterility of some sources, 800 million people are undernourished while obesity has become a widespread problem in other countries.
With the world’s population growing steadily and climate change threatening the regularity of harvests, the challenge is to provide quality, nutritious food in a changing world with steadily increasing demand.
The idea of organic food is associated with the absence of chemical inputs in the production process, with no genetic modification, with the sustainable use of the soil and with the mitigation of climate change. Well, the experts don’t always agree.
According to a study conducted in Sweden, organic farming does not contribute to solving the environmental problems caused by traditional agriculture as it requires more surface area to grow plants and the amount of greenhouse gases generated is higher than traditional methods. This research has received a lot of criticism in the scientific community as the statistical basis of the research was considered insufficient to reach definitive conclusions on the subject but it has given rise to a very interesting debate which in some respects partially leads to dispelling a myth.
To begin with, the word “organic food” is not always regulated in detail and as this practice has become mainstream the standards for environmental benefits have become tepid. Obviously it is difficult to make a “black or white” judgment on such a broad issue.
First, we must observe that to achieve the aims of organic farming, methodologies should consider a balance of price, carbon footprint of production and on a larger scale the need to increase land productivity to meet the growing demand for food. At the state of the art, organic farming satisfies the demand from those who can afford the luxury of buying food of the highest quality.
An interesting observation concerns biodiversity on organic farms. In fact, some organic agribusinesses have uniform crops without any diversity and despite this they can continue to use the organic brand. In India, organic farms on the other hand grow many different types of crops at the same time. This is because they grow plants that naturally keep pests away and consequently do not need artificial inputs to protect crops. Farmers use plants and biodiversity to regulate their crop system.
As observed by Mc Dermid, Indian farmers with organic production produce their own fertilizer obtained from the cultivation of legumes which are then distributed on the soil. This leads to an increase in nitrogen higher than the supply of manure or chemical fertilizers.
In some developing countries, organic farming makes it possible to increase productivity compared to traditional methods as it requires less water and chemical inputs and as an effect it increases soil fertility.
Experts stress the need to provide clearer information on organic labels and the certification process. Industry insiders also report that they have difficulties in their supermarket purchasing decisions.
There is no reason to feel guilty about not buying organic food since the price is still struggling to be competitive and the debate on whether organic farming is truly more effective in addressing the challenges of our times is still a long way off. from providing a clear answer on the issue. However, if you want to reduce the environmental impact of your diet, the answer is to reduce the consumption of meat on which the impact is uniform.
