Why organic food is important

Organic agriculture is important for our health and the future of our world for many reasons.

It’s needed to sustainably feed the world. It carries far fewer toxic pesticide residues, and is grown using no GMOs. It doesn’t poison farmworkers or the micro-organisms living in the soil that produce healthy, drought-resistant crops. Organic farming is also better suited to climate change, protects biodiversity, enhances soil fertility, and, to top it off, organic foods are more nutritious and taste better.

But without pesticides and other tools known for producing high-yield agriculture, would organic food really be able to produce enough food to feed people? Many studies from around the world show that organic farms can produce about as much if not more food than conventional farms. It may take several seasons for farmers to learn the new ways and see success, but as the soil and biodiversity recover, yields go up. And in places where most of the world’s hungry live, yield gaps for organic food disappear.

Another problem the world faces is global drought. According to NASA, at 21 of the world’s largest 37 aquifers, water is being taken out faster than it’s being replaced. This is not a sustainable situation.

But could the best way to preserve our water supplies, be with organic farming? Organic soil is better able to hold onto water because it uses organic material. Therefore, plants have more access to water, and they produce more food.

A way to make organic food cheap

Organic food sometimes costs more. But experts say the way to make organic food cheap is to get everybody on board. One entrepreneur in India who has experience in agriculture put it like this:

“What happens ordinarily in organic is that a retailer deals with small quantities from a wide range of farmers. The supply chain is broken and disorganized. This adds to the cost of produce.

When a state is 100% organic, then the costs that go into segregating, packaging, labeling, and differential pricing, are saved. When everything is organic, the price automatically falls.”

http://foodrevolution.org/blog/organic-food-sikkim/