(Note, category fish and seafood shortened to ‘fish’ and category fruit and berries to ‘fruit’ for space reasons in the version I translated and created into the infographic you see below. This report was also discussed in an opinion piece in the Sweden’s largest newspaper, Dagens Nyheter (under the title “Organic farming has never been better for the environment”). Meanwhile, conventional farming (representing about 94 percent of all farming in Europe) ends on top on eighteen aspects in this table summary – that is only four ‘winning’ aspects more than organic. Could that end the anti-GMO movement? This figure was featured in Marc Brazeau’s piece, and it is originally from the article Leverage points for improving global food security and the environment, behind paywall over at Science. Bee friendly insecticides? Pesticides now must go through rigorous testing by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before they can be sold. This Swedish report looks at conventional farming without the environmental benefits of biotech. This might also factor into having organic rate better for ‘ecotoxicity’. The GLP featured this article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. This article or excerpt is included in the GLP’s daily curated selection of ideologically diverse news, opinion and analysis of biotechnology innovation. Surprisingly it’s not the pesticides and herbicides used in conventional farming that make up the bulk of this energy differential. My understanding is that it has inspired the farming-world wide adoption of several good methods in the past, such as Integrated Pest Management and use of cover crops – and it could do so again. With biotechnology, it has been documented that conventional farming becomes more environmentally friendly, saving more resources, such as reducing pesticide-use, and allowing for the wider adoption of no-till, limiting erosion and run-off. Conventional Farming Organic agriculture is a production system that regenerates the health of soils, ecosystems, and people. This is where the ‘ecotoxic’ substances would probably have helped avoid using more land. The reason is that, in order to secure a viable income, organic farmers need larger holdings. He is an ... News on human & agricultural genetics and biotechnology delivered to your inbox. Scientists unlock genetic key to kill crop pests, sparing beneficial insects, Daily Digest & Outbreak Coronavirus (Mon-Thu), Happy Thanksgiving to our US readers! Does organic farming reduce environmental impacts? To support our work, please send a tax-deductible donation to: OCA, 6771 South Silver Hill Dr., Finland, MN 55603, Petition for Scientists, Lawyers, and Policy Experts, Returning the ‘Three Sisters’ – Corn, Beans and Squash – To Native American Farms Nourishes People, Land and Cultures, The Pandemic Has Given Organics a Big Boost—But Most Profits Aren’t Flowing To Small Producers, Essential Oils Could Help Protect Organic Fruits Crops, Organic Food Is a ‘Human Right’, Says Leading Food Scientist, Send a tax-deductible donation to the OCA. But this new study, which had three major findings, shows that's not true. We can’t do this work without your help. Plant burgers don’t cause ‘man boobs.’ GMOs and terrorism, Podcast: Beyond CRISPR and gene therapy—How ‘gene writing’ is poised to transform the treatment of even the rarest diseases, Podcast: Polymerase chain reaction—The ‘transformative’ tool that sparked a genetics revolution, Video: Test everyone – Slovakia goes its own way to control COVID. As it is, there is little support in the science or in this SLV report for the claim of organic farming leading the way in the use of environmentally friendlier methods today. While Brevata clarified that eating organic foods does seem to result in a lower pesticide exposure, she pointed out that there is currently no direct link between that data and personal health. I have written more about the research done on bees and neonicotinoid here, for instance. This does not mean that pesticides should not be carefully studied and monitored to make sure we apply them in a way that has minimal adverse effect on organisms which fall outside their scope (managing pests and weeds). If so, your chances of getting severe COVID are significantly reduced, Latin America can’t let its COVID crisis go to waste – it needs a structural overhaul, Viewpoint: After large Thanksgiving gatherings, expect small Christmas funerals. In terms of land use, it’s been shown that convention production can often produce more food on less land, although some organic methods like biointensive farming use innovative organic growing methods to grow more food on less land. Another good overview comes from Steve Savage over at Applied Mythology: Pesticides – Probably Less Scary Than You Imagine: All the registered pesticides are also extensively studied in terms of their effects on “non-target” organisms and their environmental fate. He makes some important observations on the relatively low impact of pesticides vs several other factors in farming: The environmental impacts highlighted include water use and irrigation; nutrient leaching and eutrophication due to excess nitrogen and phosphorus; land use, especially tropical deforestation; and greenhouse gases, especially N2O but also carbon and methane. In these four important environmental aspects they are by far more often equal than they are different. Here is her face, reconstructed from bone fragments found in a cave in Greece, Mike Adams: Natural News, “everyone’s favorite über-quack #1 anti-science website”—”even the quacks think he’s a quack”, Bog bodies of Europe: 2500-year-old, naturally preserved humans provide astonishing insight into ancient cultures, Conspiracy promoter Mike ‘Health Ranger’ Adams built online disinformation Natural News online empire that subverts science, report finds, Viewpoint: AquaBounty’s GM salmon slated for 2021 debut, but animal biotech still stymied by byzantine regulation, Autism increase mystery solved? Podcast: Lockdown skeptics are COVID ‘deniers’? Please support us – a donation of as little as $10 a month helps support our vital myth-busting efforts. Another thing worth noting is that Sweden also has some of the most restrictive pesticide rules for organic. Otherwise there would in many cases be no crop to speak of. Some perspective on herbicides is given in the piece: Herbicides: How harmful are they? If the organic label was committed to striving toward documented environmental benefits instead of the idea of some kind of superior naturalness, I would still be the loyal organic customer I used to be. : …ammonia emissions, nitrogen leaching and nitrous oxide emissions per product unit were higher from organic systems. It is worthwhile to considering that pesticides have become dramatically safer over the past 50 years. The Washington Post article also points out the critical reality that, according to some estimates, farming accounts for only 35 percent of the energy embedded in food, with the other 65 percent going to transportation, cooking and disposal of waste. Organic Consumers Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Organic and conventional agriculture belonged to two different paradigms. The classic retort is that is the cost of having an environmentally friendly farm. Meanwhile, conventional farming (representing about 94 percent of all farming in Europe) ends on top on eighteen aspects in this table summary – that is only four ‘winning’ aspects … Studies show that a decline in yield is typical during the first 3-5 years of transition, but then crops rebound to produce 90-95 percent of conventional produce yields. © 2020 Sustainable America. As the Rodale Institute explains, “The manufacture and transport of synthetic nitrogen requires a tremendous amount of oil.”. Source: EU-FADN. On the flip side, the same size plot using conventional methods to grow corn requires 17,372 megajoules of energy, which is over 70% more than the organic crop. in Biology from Sweden. To inform the public about what’s really going on, we present the facts and challenge those who don't. It’s good to keep in mind that many pesticides are still allowed even in Swedish organic, the following list comes from the most restricted organic brand, KRAV: azadiracthin, pyrethrines, lecithins, hydrolysed proteins, bee wax, quassia, micro-organisms, spinosad, pheromones, Iron(III)phosphate, Kaliumsalt, calcium polysulphide, paraffine oil, kvartssand, sulphur, calcium hydroxide, kalium carbonate, aluminium silicate, and laminarin. The media call it the “Insect Apocalypse”. Instead organic lobbying has marketed its idea of superiority to the degree that the Swedish state pays subsidies to support organic farming to the sum of 600 million Krona per year – and half that again in the amount state institutions’ commitment to buying organic, and more still if you consider the cost to ordinary consumers who believe the same idea (figures are according to the Swedish ecologist and Emeritus Professor Torbjörn Fagerström and plant physiologist Jens Sundström in their article in DN).

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