Organic food is food that has been grown or processed without synthetic pesticides, chemical fertilizers, irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.
Organic food is typically more expensive than conventional food, sometimes 50% higher than the same conventionally grown food.
While there may not be a significant difference nutritionally between organic and conventional foods, detectable pesticide residues were found in only 7% of organic product samples compared to 38% of conventional produce samples.
The European Union, the U.S., Canada, Japan, and other countries require organic food producers to have a special certification based on government-defined standards to market food as organic.
Pesticides may be used on organic food as long as they are not synthetic.
A liter of organic milk requires 80% more land than conventional milk to produce, has 20% more global warming potential, releases 60% more nutrients into water sources, and contributes 70% more to acid rain.
Studies have shown that pesticide levels in children’s urine were significantly lower if they ate organic diets.
Organically reared cows burp up twice as much methane as conventionally reared cattle. Methane is 20 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than CO2.
While organic potatoes use less energy in terms of fertilizer production, they need more fossil fuel for plowing.
A hectare of conventionally farmed land produces 2½ times more potatoes than an organic one.
DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs) estimates that organic tomato production in the UK releases almost three times the nutrient pollution and uses 25% more water per kg of fruit than normal production.
Advantages of organic meat include reduced exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria