THE HARVARD GAZETTE 25 SEPTEMBER 2023
"Only 8 % of organic sales in the U.S. were still being made by small farmers …Wondering is a series of random questions answered by experts.
Robert Paarlberg is an associate in the Sustainability Science Program at the Kennedy School and the author of several books on agriculture and food, including “Resetting the Table.” We asked him whether eating organic is better for us.
Is organic food, grown without synthetic chemicals, healthier than conventionally grown food? Roughly 40 percent of Americans say at least some of the food they eat is organic, so quite a few eaters clearly believe it is.
However, there is no reliable evidence showing that organically grown foods are more nutritious or safer to eat... studies conducted at the Center for Health Policy at Stanford University concluded there were no convincing differences between organic and conventional foods in nutrient content or health benefit.
The organic ban on synthetic chemicals also fails to improve food safety in the U.S., since the use of pesticides is now significantly regulated in conventional farming (insecticide use today is 82 percent lower than it was in 1972), and because produce in supermarkets has been washed to remove nearly all of the chemical residues that might remain.
In 2021, the USDA... annual survey of pesticide residues on food... found > 99 percent had residues safely below EPA’s tolerance levels, which are cautiously set at only 1/100th of an exposure that still does not cause toxicity in laboratory animals. Food scientists at the University of California, Davis, conclude… the “marginal benefits of reducing human exposure to pesticides in the diet through increased consumption of organic produce appear to be insignificant.”
Many consumers continue to think organic foods come from small local farms, but most now come from distant industrial farms. By one estimate in 2014, only 8 percent of organic sales in the U.S. were still being made by small farmers through farmers markets or through community supported agriculture. Over 80 percent of all U.S. organic sales are now made by corporate conglomerates like ConAgra, H.J. Heinz, and Kellogg. The biggest retailers of organic foods are Walmart, Costco, and Kroger.
Most commercial farmers, both large and small, want to use at least some synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, which means they can’t be certified as organic. This is why less than 1 percent of harvested cropland in America is certified organic... without synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, 40 percent of the increased food production required by today’s population could never have taken place.
WHAT IS MORE. ORGANIC FARMING MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO BATS:
Bats struggle during organic farming transition
University of Bristol press release :21 July 2023
Bat activity falls as farms make the transition to organic agriculture, new research shows.
Organic farming is better for biodiversity than conventional farming, which relies heavily on substances such as pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers. However, little is known about how wildlife is affected by the transition period when a farm goes organic.
- Activity of Savi's pipistrelles was three times lower – and activity of Kuhl's pipistrelles and common bent-wings was twice as low – on organic-transitional farms compared to conventional farms.
- Activity of Kuhl's pipistrelles was twice as high on organic farms compared to conventional farms.
- Activity of Kuhl's pipistrelles and Savi's pipistrelles was higher or organic farms than on organic-transition farms (by threefold and twofold respectively).
- The presence of “semi-natural” areas surrounding the farms did not affect these differences.
