Organic vs. Intensive Farming: When Choosing What to Buy, What is Really at Stake?

Marianna B. Ferreira-Aulu University of Turku, Finland.

Masters Student of Futures Studies, Turku School of Economics. Minor in Sustainable Development, Finland Futures Research Centre.

Content of this Presentation

• What organic foods are

• Certifications

• Organic foods & the environment: meta-analysis by Tuomisto et al (2012)

• Food security

• Land use

• Animal ethics

• Conclusive remarks & discussion

Organic Foods

Food produced free from chemical fertilizer or synthetic pesticides

Pesticides and fertilizers can be used, as long as they are not manufactured. (Leifeld, 2012, p.1)

The term ‘organic’ is given because the soil used for growing the crops has been nourished by organic matter, rather than synthetic fertilizers. (Pollan 2008, p. 169)

Organic Certifications

Each country (or region) has a different definition of what can be considered organic foodstuffs.

In order to get certifications, products have to be grown according to local definitions of the term, and follow specific standards.

Organic Foods & the Environment: Meta-analysis by Tuomisto et al (2012)

Per Area Per Product Unit

Nitrogen Leaching 31 % lower 49 % higher

Nitrous Oxide Emissions

31 % lower 8 % higher

Ammonia Emissions 18 % lower 11 % higher

Comparison of organic & conventional farming (2012, p. 312-315)

71 papers with quantitative data

Land Use 84 % more

Soil Organic Matter 65 % higher manure or compost

Energy Use 21 % lower (wide variation)

Biodiversity

30 % higher species richness 50 % higher abundance of organisms

GHG Emissions

Median response: no difference. (Wide variation between product groups )

No Single Best Farming System For All Circumstances

Organic farming produces more emissions per product unit and uses more land for production.

Many of the impacts depend on the farm’s management choices, more than choices between conventional and organic farming.

Food Security

“Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”. World Food Summit (1996)

In a utopian food-secure world, we (human kind) would all have access to the food we prefer. This food would not only taste good, but it would also be nutritious, clean, and cheap.

Land Use & Food Insecurity

1 in 8 people in the world (~ 870 million people) were chronically undernourished in the period 2010–2012.

In the developing world, ~ 14.9 % of the population is undernourished. (FAO 2012, p.8)

The human population is growing, and the land area inhabited by humans is expanding.

Would organic farming create territory tension in the future?

Animal Ethics In order to consider an animal product “organic”, the livestock must have access to the outside, direct sunlight, fresh air and freedom of movement.

• All organic animal products are also free-range products.

– But isn’t it possible to buy non-organic free-range meat?

• But should consumers who are concerned with animal ethics consume meat and animal products in the first place?

Conclusive Remarks

• Cultural dimension: freedom of choice Consumers should have access to their food of preference.

• Ethical dimension (animal): free-range animal products

• Ethical dimension (human): population growth Can we feed everyone with organic food?

• Economical dimension: efficiency, energy use, costs

• Ecological dimension: footprint of products per unit

Thank you! Now it is time for questions and discussion.

Sources • All images used in this presentation were found from

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/

• Canavari, Maurizio., Kent D. Olson. (Editors) Organic Food : Consumers’ Choices and Farmers’ Opportunities. Electronic resource. New York, NY : Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 2007. Restrictions on Access: University of Turku local network https://ezproxy.utu.fi/login?url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-39582-1

• • FAO, WFP and IFAD. (2012) “The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2012. Economic growth is necessary but not sufficient to accelerate reduction of hunger and malnutrition.” Rome http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/i3027e/i3027e.pdf

• • Hermansen, John E., Paul Rye Kledal, Henning Høgh Jensen, Henrik Egelyng. Sustainability of organic farming in a global food chain perspective. GLOBAL ORG 2007-2010. ICROFS, International Centre for Research in Organic Food Systems. www.icrofs.org. Last Fetched 06.02.2013

• • Leifeld, Jens. How sustainable is organic farming? Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 150 (p.121– 122) Elsevier Journal: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 2012 www.elsevier.com/locate/agee. Last Fetched 06.02.2013

• • Lockeretz, William (editor). Organic farming: an international history. Electronic resource: Cambridge, MA : CABI, 2007. Restrictions on Access: University of Turku local network https://ezproxy.utu.fi/login?url=http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uniturku/Doc?id=10193764

• • Pollan, Michael. In defense of Food: an Eater's Manifesto. The Pinguin Press, USA, 2008.

• • Steffan, Rachel, Demand Media. The Difference between Organic & Free-Range Chicken. National Geographic. Last Fetched 06.02.2013

• http://greenliving.nationalgeographic.com/difference-between-organic-freerange-chicken-2580.html Last Fetched 06.02.2013

• • Tuomisto, H.L., .D. Hodgeb, P. Riordan, D.W. Macdonald. Does organic farming reduce environmental impacts? – A meta- analysis of European research. Elsevier Journal of Environmental Management. Volume 112, 15 December 2012, Pages 309–320

• http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.utu.fi:2048/science/article/pii/S0301479712004264

• • World Bank, The. Population Projection Tables by Country and Group

• http://go.worldbank.org/KZHE1CQFA0 Last Fetched 06.02.2013

• • Ziv, Aaron. Demand Media. Organic Vs. Free-Range Chicken. National Geographic. Last Fetched 06.02.2013

• http://greenliving.nationalgeographic.com/organic-vs-freerange-chicken-2890.html