What is Organic Agriculture ?
Organic food is the product of a farming system which avoids the use of man-made fertilisers, pesticides, growth regulators and livestock feed additives. Irradiation and the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or products produced from or by GMOs are generally prohibited by organic legislation.
Organic agriculture is a systems approach to production that is working towards environmentally, socially and economically sustainable production. Instead, the agricultural systems rely on crop rotation, animal and plant manures, some hand weeding and biological pest control.
"Organic agriculture is a holistic production management system which promotes and enhances agro-ecosystem health, including biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity. It emphasises the use of management practices in preference to the use of off-farm inputs, taking into account that regional conditions require locally adapted systems. This is accomplished by using, where possible, agronomic, biological, and mechanical methods, as opposed to using synthetic materials, to fulfil any specific function within the system."
(FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission, 1999)
FAQs
Can organic foods really improve my health?
Yes. Consumption of organically grown food is a great way to reduce your exposure to contaminants commonly found in foods that have been grown using conventional agricultural practices. These contaminants may include not only pesticides - many of which have been classified as potential cancer-causing agents - but also heavy metals such as lead and mercury, and solvents like benzene and toluene. Minimizing exposure to these potential toxins is an important benefit for your health. Heavy metals can damage nerve function, contributing to diseases such as multiple sclerosis, and interfere with haemoglobin production in a way that increases risk of aneomia. Solvents can damage white blood cell function and lower the immune system's ability to resist infections.
In addition to lessening your exposure to these potentially harmful substances, organically grown foods, on average, contain higher levels of many nutrients including vitamins and minerals.
What substances do we avoid by eating organic food?
Synthetic Pesticides: By far the largest group of contaminants to be largely prohibited from organically grown foods are synthetic pesticides, which are found virtually everywhere else in the food supply. Several hundred different chemicals and several thousand brand-name pesticide products are legally used in commercial food production.
Heavy metals: The toxic metals cadmium, lead, and mercury can enter the food supply through industrial pollution of soil and groundwater and through machinery used in food processing and packaging. Cadmium exposure, which can be concentrated in plant tissues at levels higher than those in soil, has been linked to increased risk of lung, prostate and testicular cancers. Despite a well-documented negative impact on health - especially health of young children - lead residues can be found in many foods, including canned foods, which may still contain lead solder. Even low levels of lead intake can be harmful and have been associated with impaired neurobehavioral development, decreased stature and growth, and impaired hearing.
Solvents: Used to dissolve food components and produce food additives, solvents are found in a wide variety of commercially processed foods. Excessive exposure to solvents such as benzene and toluene has been linked to increased risk of several types of cancer. Excessive exposure to benzene has also been lined to increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis.
While food is by no means our only source of exposure to potentially harmful synthetic chemicals or heavy metals, food is something that passes continuously through our bodies, meal after meal, day after day, and year after year. It's this constant exposure to food that makes its quality so very important in our health.
When certified a food as "organic" is it actually guaranteeing something about the food?
Yes.
When certified a food as organic, it is guaranteeing that the food was produced through internationally accredited organic certification body approved methods designed to improve food quality and environmental conditions associated with food production. As part of this guarantee, the certification body such as USDA, EU, JAS forbids the use of sewage sludge, irradiation, or genetic engineering in any certified organic food, and at present, certified organic food is one of the few ways that global consumers have to guarantee the absence of these practices from a food's production.
In addition to the three very important prohibitions described above organic standards also disallow:
• Most synthetic fertilizers and pesticides
• Growth hormones
• Antibiotics
• Many synthetic additives
What are the environmental benefits of organic farming over conventional farming methods?
Organically grown foods are cultivated using farming practices that can work to preserve and protect the environment.
Most conventional farming methods depend on a wide range of "off-farm inputs" for success. If the soil does not contain enough minerals, minerals are purchased from off the farm in the form of bagged synthetic fertilizers from a farm supply store. If there is not enough water available, irrigation pumps are installed and natural gas is used to run the pumps and irrigate the fields with groundwater. If insects are a threat to crops, pesticides are purchased from a supply store and sprayed to prevent crop infestation.
These methods may result in successful crop production, but they do not result in sustainable use of resources. And in many cases, they can pose a risk to health by contaminating soil, water and air with levels of synthetic chemicals that cannot be readily absorbed by the earth.
Organic farming practices try to minimize "off-farm inputs" and seek to develop farming environment that is more self-contained. Along with the composting of plant materials, animals on the farm may be able to provide much of the necessary fertilizer in the form of composted manure. Crop rotation and the planting of cover crops may be able to improve soil nourishment. Avoidance of mouldboard ploughing may be able to help preserve soil integrity. Inter planting of crops may help reduce the need for pesticides
as might biological balances in which natural predators take care of unwanted pests. Berms may help protect soil and plants from wind.
According to many experts in the field of resource conservation and global warming, changes in farming practices worldwide could very likely
form a centrepiece for climate stabilization across out planet. Organic farming practices may be able to greatly reduce carbon emissions associated with production and transport of synthetic fertilizers, and carbon sequestration (retention) by agricultural land could be greatly increased through organic farming practices. By cutting down on carbon emissions and capturing more carbon in croplands themselves, organic farmers might be able to change agriculture from being a net emitter (releaser) of carbon into the atmosphere to a net retainer of carbon. That change might be able to help reverse the problem of humankind's ever-increasing carbon footprint.
Why Organically Grown Foods Are Better for the Health of Our Planet?
Sustainability over the long term.Many changes observed in the environment are long term, occurring slowly over time. Organic agriculture considers the medium- and long-term effect of agricultural interventions on the agro-ecosystem. It aims to produce food while establishing an ecological balance to prevent soil fertility or pest problems. Organic agriculture takes a proactive approach as opposed to treating problems after they emerge.
Soil.Soil building practices such as crop rotations, inter-cropping, symbiotic associations, cover crops, organic fertilizers and minimum tillage are central to organic practices. These encourage soil fauna and flora, improving soil formation and structure and creating more stable systems. In turn, nutrient and energy cycling is increased and the retentive abilities of the soil for nutrients and water are enhanced, compensating for the non-use of mineral fertilizers. Such management techniques also play an important role in soil erosion control. The length of time that the soil is exposed to erosive forces is decreased, soil biodiversity is increased, and nutrient losses are reduced, helping to maintain and enhance soil productivity.
Crop export of nutrients is usually compensated by farm-derived renewable resources but it is sometimes necessary to supplement organic soils with potassium, phosphate, calcium, magnesium and trace elements from external sources.
Water.In many agriculture areas, pollution of groundwater courses with synthetic fertilizers and pesticides is a major problem. As the use of these is prohibited in organic agriculture, they are replaced by organic fertilizers (e.g. compost, animal manure, green manure) and through the use of greater biodiversity (in terms of species cultivated and permanent vegetation), enhancing soil structure and water infiltration. Well managed organic systems with better nutrient retentive abilities, greatly reduce the risk of groundwater pollution. In some areas where pollution is a real problem, conversion to organic agriculture is highly encouraged as a restorative measure (e.g. by the Governments of France and Germany).
Air and climate change.Organic agriculture reduces non-renewable energy use by decreasing agrochemical needs (these require high quantities of fossil fuel to be produced). Organic agriculture contributes to mitigating the greenhouse effect and global warming through its ability to sequester carbon in the soil. Many management practices used by organic agriculture (e.g. minimum tillage, returning crop residues to the soil, the use of cover crops and rotations, and the greater integration of nitrogen-fixing legumes), increase the return of carbon to the soil, raising productivity and favouring carbon storage. A number of studies revealed that soil organic carbon contents under organic farming are considerably higher. The more organic carbon is retained in the soil, the more the mitigation potential of agriculture against climate change is higher. However, there is much research needed in this field, yet. There is a lack of data on soil organic carbon for developing countries, with no farm system comparison data from Africa and Latin America, and only limited data on soil organic carbon stocks, which is crucial for determining carbon sequestration rates for farming practices.
Biodiversity.Organic farmers are both custodians and users of biodiversity at all levels. At the gene level, traditional and adapted seeds and breeds are preferred for their greater resistance to diseases and their resilience to climatic stress. At the species level, diverse combinations of plants and animals optimize nutrient and energy cycling for agricultural production. At the ecosystem level, the maintenance of natural areas within and around organic fields and absence of chemical inputs create suitable habitats for wildlife. The frequent use of under-utilized species (often as rotation crops to build soil fertility) reduces erosion of agro-biodiversity, creating a healthier gene pool - the basis for future adaptation. The provision of structures providing food and shelter, and the lack of pesticide use, attract new or re-colonizing species to the organic area (both permanent and migratory), including wild flora and fauna (e.g. birds) and organisms beneficial to the organic system such as pollinators and pest predators. The number of studies on organic farming and biodiversity increased significantly within the last years. A Recent Study Reporting On A Meta-Analysis Of 766 Scientific Papers concluded that organic farming produces more biodiversity than other farming systems.
NO Genetically modified organisms.The use of GMOs within organic systems is not permitted during any stage of organic food production, processing or handling. As the potential impact of GMOs to both the environment and health is not entirely understood, organic agriculture is taking the precautionary approach and choosing to encourage natural biodiversity. The organic label therefore provides an assurance that GMOs have not been used intentionally in the production and processing of the organic products. This is something which cannot be guaranteed in conventional products as labelling the presence of GMOs in food products has not yet come into force in most countries. However, with increasing GMO use in conventional agriculture and due to the method of transmission of GMOs in the environment (e.g. through pollen), organic agriculture will not be able to ensure that organic products are completely GMO free in the future. A detailed discussion on GMOs can be found in the FAO publication "Genetically Modified Organisms, Consumers, Food Safety and the Environment".
Water.The impact of organic agriculture on natural resources favours interactions within the agro-ecosystem that are vital for both agricultural production and nature conservation. Ecological services derived include soil forming and conditioning, soil stabilization, waste recycling, carbon sequestration, nutrients cycling, predation, pollination and habitats. By opting for organic products, the consumer through his/her purchasing power promotes a less polluting agricultural system. The hidden costs of agriculture to the environment in terms of natural resource degradation are reduced.
A critical review of the relationships between organic agriculture and the environment as well as other aspects is provided by IFOAM and is presented under the shape of a list of Criticisms and Frequent Misconceptions about Organic Agriculture with Corresponding Counter-Arguments.
