What springs to mind when you hear the word organic? Is it freshness? High quality? Maybe healthiness? In a recent conversation around this topic, I found myself perplexed by what organic means. In some sense, organic is seen as a lifestyle choice that’s perpetuated by high-end supermarkets and marketing. This might suggest that organic products are “better” for you. However, is that true?
In this article, I’m deep diving into the world of organic, where I look to analyse what the term means, but also compare it to non-organic food. This will include looking at several factors, such as price, the environment and health.
What is Organic Food?
According to the Soil Association, a British agroforestry charity, organic is a ‘system of farming and food production’. In order for food to be considered organic, a farm has to meet the criteria described by a certification body (like Soil Association). The criteria may vary slightly between each organisation, but the underlying premise remains the same. Some of the fundamental tenets of organic farming include avoiding pesticide use, chemical fertilisers, and having higher animal welfare standards. Non-GMO seeds, antibiotics and hormones are also avoided in organic farming.
It’s important to note that different countries and regions have their own standards for what’s considered as organic. The nuances between certifications may include an alteration in the above practices. In some cases, countries may recognise other standards as equivalent, such as in the case between the US and Canada. In the EU for instances, all countries that are part of the union follow the same standards. As of now, EU organic certificates are recognised in the UK until 1 February 2025, wherein countries wishing to import organic produce will require a certificate of inspection (COI).
Organic vs Non-Organic
Cost
The argument for organic and non-organic food is an interesting one. From a visual perspective, it’s hard to differentiate between those two food items. However, when we go to a store, the first thing that we notice is the price – Organic food is more expensive, but why?
There are many reasons for why organic food is more expensive. According to the FAO, organic food is more expensive because of:
- Limited supply in relation to demand
- Higher production costs, which includes greater labour inputs per unit of outputs
- Increased post-harvest handling prices due to lower volumes
- Inefficiencies and subsequent price increase in marketing and distribution due to lower volumes
As previously mentioned, organic farming avoids the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, GMOs and other common practices found in conventional farming. Chemical fertilisers for instance enhance soil fertility much cheaply compared to organic fertilisers. This makes them a compelling choice for farmers who want to boost plant growth and yield, whilst cutting down on costs. Chemical pesticides are responsible for killing, repelling and controlling animal and plant life that can bother or damage crops. This ensures that pests and diseases are reduced, which means that farmers can harvest more produce. Finally, GMO, or, genetically modified organism, describes a plant, animal, or microorganism whose DNA material has been genetically altered. In crop farming, this occurs when selective DNA is transferred into plant cells. For example, this can results in crops that are resistant to insect damage, plant viruses, and can tolerate herbicides.
When we compare both farming methods by yield, we see that organic farming yields are 5% to 34% less than conventional farming. Although this is heavily dependent on environmental factors as well as best practices, conventional farming takes the lead in production. This isn’t to say that organic farming can’t be scalable, not at all. However, organic farming is more labour intensive. Rather than relying on chemical pesticides for instance, organic farming uses natural pesticides and takes preventative measures such as maintaining healthy soil ecology, crop rotation, introduction of pest predators and much more. These measures offer organic farmers a solution that aligns with the organic ethos, albeit at an added cost of labour and less yield, resulting in a higher price tag.
The Environment
The different practices that each farming method employs has a direct impact on the environment. When we observe the differences between them, we can’t ignore the effects that chemical fertilisers and pesticides have on the environment. For example, chemical (inorganic) fertilisers are substances designed to supply the soil with essential elements like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. When used, chemical fertilisers enrich the soil with these macronutrients that help plants grow and flourish, enabling farmers to produce higher yields per unit area. However, excessive use of chemical fertilisers can lead to environmental problems. These problems can include soil degradation and soil acidification. Runoff into water bodies, which causes eutrophication and water pollution. And finally, the production of chemical fertilisers is energy intensive, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions (GHG).
Beyond the use of chemicals to boost yield and lower crop deaths, conventional farming can be harmful to the environment in other ways. When I think of conventional farming, the first thing that comes to mind is vast monocultures. In many parts of the world, wild land is destroyed to make room for agriculture / animal farming. A cited example on this is the Amazon rainforest. 17% of the rainforest has been deforested due to anthropogenic activities such as soy farming for animal feed and cattle ranching, which makes up 80% of the forest’s destruction. Palm oil, which is used as biofuel, and is also present in half of all supermarket products, takes up 27 million hectares of the Earth’s surface, or the equivalent of New Zealand.
On the other hand, organic farming can alleviate some of the environmental impacts mentioned above. For starters, since organic farming avoids the use of chemical fertilisers, undesirable effects such as soil degradation and runoff are lessened. The lack of chemicals used also reduces the emissions generated from their production. This can lead to better soil health and in fact, can help reduce emissions by capturing and storing CO2 in a process called soil carbon sequestration. However, the lack of chemical fertiliser and pesticide in organic farming can mean reduced yield. In order to tackle food security issues, organic farms will have to increase their acreage, which can lead to more GHG emissions, reduced biodiversity and higher resource use.
This can be seen when we compare the environmental impact of yields per unit area. For instance, in a Swedish research study that compared organic pea farming with its conventional counterpart, it was shown that organic peas have a 50% greater climate impact. This difference was starker when looking at wheat, which increased to 70%. Another study highlighted that when controlling for yield, insect biodiversity (bumblebees, butterflies, hoverflies etc..) did not defer between systems, even though organic grain yields were 54% less per unit area. On a per yield basis, conventional farming outperforms organic systems. If we only farmed organic food, we would need to increase land use by 16-33%. Bearing in mind that 37% of Earth’s land mass is classified for agricultural use, switching to a purely organic farming system could drastically diminish biodiversity.
Health
Healthy living has become a trend recently, especially in younger demographics. On my social media feed, I see many people promote healthy food choices and active lifestyles. A theme that I’ve noticed is that they swear by organic food. This isn’t surprising, since organic food is synonymous with healthy lifestyles. When we observe the figures, worldwide organic food sales over the years have surpassed $100 billion in revenue, with many consumers citing health as their primary reason of purchase. However, is organic food actually better for us than non-organic food?
Some studies cite that organic foods may have more antioxidants, lower nitrate levels, and more omega-3 fatty acids in meat and dairy. Furthermore, organic foods typically have lower chemical pesticide residues than non-organic foods. Lower chemical pesticide exposure may drive crops to produce more antioxidants to protect themselves. These can be reasons for why some consumers may choose to go with organic foods.
On the other hand, many studies show that there is no definitive difference in nutrition or health between organic and non-organic food. Additionally, just because organic farming doesn’t use chemical pesticides, that doesn’t mean that they don’t use natural ones. Typically, the risk of chemical pesticide exposure is low, and is unlikely to cause harm to us, which many nullify pesticide health scares. As such, some might argue that for those reasons, there isn’t much difference between both food products from a health perspective.
Discussion
Positive marketing that promotes organic food may actually be counterintuitive. Whilst some may prefer to buy organic food because of the reasons highlighted in the article, the research presents that organic food isn’t necessarily better. As shown, comparing both food products isn’t as straightforward as it might seem. What is obvious however is the price. When we interact with these products in shops and supermarkets, we first notice that one is much more expensive. From a consumer perspective, price can indicate better quality. However, what are we truly paying for when we buy organic products? The research shows that there are negligible health benefits for choosing organic food, and environmentally speaking, some organic crops are more harmful to the environment than their non-organic counterparts.
Sure, organic food follows strict criteria that ensures higher wages for farmers, and also better treatment of the environment and animals. But, is it enough to make a difference? I do believe that excessive use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides, and antibiotics among others, can have adverse effects on the planet. I also believe that we should moderate and limit these practices to ensure unwanted consequences. However, it’s hard for me to think of organic farming as the solution for our environmental and food security problems. On a small scale, organic farming can definitely prove useful. Nevertheless, our growing population will need more food, so what gives?
Ultimately, this topic is very nuanced. There are things that organic farming does well, and others that it lags behind. A combination of conventional and organic farming, in addition to other means like vertical farming, may prove useful. Additionally, we should consider aspects such as proximity and seasonality. The argument for sustainability becomes difficult to uphold if both food products have to travel long distances to reach us. At the end of the day, we need to consider a balanced approach that involves education and conscious consumerism. This way, we might have a chance at solving some of our problems, one step at a time.
Conclusion
Although there is no definitive reason that positions organic food as better than non-organic food, the differences between them are interesting nonetheless. Organic food is more expensive due to limited supply and higher labour intensity. Additionally, organic food is certified by a body that assesses farm activities. This monitoring may provide consumers with the confidence that their food follows strict guidelines that align with the environment. However, this doesn’t stop organic food from causing harm to the environment. Understanding the cost-benefit analysis that our food has on our health and the environment may prove useful. This may ensure that we’re making conscious consumer choices that are within our means. As such, we can do our bit to help the environment and uplift our health, without having to necessarily break the bank. At the end of the day, research goes a long way, and I do hope that this article shares useful information that will positively impact your purchasing decisions.
Anis