By Deborah Willliams, UCSB lecturer
Editor’s note: Our monthly column about specific climate action ideas takes on the benefits of going organic. Did you know our chapter has an agricultural committee focusing on just these issues. Get involved by emailing Jan and Ron at: bugnet@rinconvitova.com
There are so many compelling reasons to eat organic food whenever possible. Organic food is much better for our environment, our health and for others, including farm workers and people who live near farms and children.
The Environment. Organic agriculture practices help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Why?
Organic farming cannot use fossil fuel-based fertilizers. According to studies, if synthetic nitrogen fertilizers alone were eliminated world-wide, this would reduce direct agricultural greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 20%. Also, a study conducted over 40 years demonstrated that organic farms use 45% less energy than conventional farms.
Organic farming lowers GHG emissions because pesticides prohibited by organic farming have substantial greenhouse gas footprints. Not only is their production energy intensive, but also some pesticides, like fumigants, emit nitrous oxide, a very harmful greenhouse gas.
In non-organic farms, fumigants, like chloropicrin, are commonly used on strawberry crops, and can increase N2O emission by 700-800%. As noted by EPA, “Nitrous Oxide (N2O) has a GWP [Global Warming Potential] 273 times that of CO2 for a 100-year timescale.”
Organic farming results in healthier soil, including more biological activity and biomass, additional soil stability, and greater diversity. There is also enhanced carbon sequestration. A detailed analysis shows that “we could sequester more than 100% of current annual CO2 emissions with a switch to widely available and inexpensive organic management practices.”
There are numerous additional environmental benefits of organic farming, including the protection of wildlife, watersheds and drinking water. Of increasing importance, pollinator health is supported by organic farming.
Our Health. Pesticides are known to cause many long-term human health problems including “cancers, birth defects, reproductive harm, neurological and developmental toxicity, immunotoxicity, and disruption of the endocrine system.” “According to noted expert, Dr. Charles Benbrook, “when you compare organic versus conventional food, it is absolutely inarguable that organic food reduces dietary exposure to pesticides by 98 percent.” A study involving over 68,000 adults found that “a significant reduction in the risk of cancer was observed among high consumers of organic food.”
Want to avoid GMO foods? Because the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is strictly prohibited in organic products, eating organic is the easiest way to have confidence that you are not consuming GMOs. Want to circumvent sewage sludge and irradiation? They are explicitly prohibited in growing organic foods.
What’s more, studies show that organic foods, including milk, onions and many others, have higher nutritional values.
Others’ Health. Farmworkers and neighboring communities are particularly exposed to harmful pesticides from conventional farming. Farmers and farmworkers have higher rates of certain cancers, including prostate cancer. With respect to neighboring communities, as an article in Scientific American notes: “Children are especially vulnerable to these airborne pesticides, given that their young bodies are still growing and developing.”
Pesticide Action Network also observes, “When pesticides are sprayed they can drift and settle on playgrounds, porches, laundry, toys, pools, furniture and more…Some of the most toxic pesticides in use in the U.S. today are also the most drift prone.”
According to research, “upwards of 95 percent of applied pesticides miss their target, reaching nearby people and wildlife, waterways, soil and air instead.”
Taking Action. Buy organic whenever possible. Let’s vote with our mouths and dollars. More organic demand means more investments in and conversion to organic farming. Costco alone has $6.6 billion in annual organic sales, spurring increased organic production.
Easy and local ways to eat organically include shopping at your local farmers market in Santa Barbara/Goleta/Solvang/Carpinteria/Montecito or Ventura County, and signing up for CSA services like Farm Cart Organics.
For our environment, ourselves and others, let’s maximize our organic purchases.