Organic Food: Reducing Pollution, Saving The Planet

Organic food is widely considered to be better for the environment than conventional food. Organic farming is based on natural cultivation practices that reduce pollution from fertiliser or pesticide run-off, conserve water, and increase soil fertility and health. Organic farms are required to build healthy soil and crops, relying on composting, crop rotation, and natural rather than fossil fuel-based inputs to maintain or improve soil health. This makes organic farms more resilient to climate change.

Organic farming reduces the use of synthetic fertilisers

Organic food and farming have gained popularity in recent years, with consumers becoming more concerned about the health impacts of accidentally consuming pesticides and chemical fertilisers. Organic farming is considered a more sustainable alternative when it comes to food production.

The overuse of synthetic fertilisers can lead to the degradation of soil over time, making plants more susceptible to pests and diseases. This creates a vicious cycle where farmers have to use more and more fertilisers, further degrading the soil until it is no longer suitable for agricultural use. This irresponsible farming practice destroys the equivalent of 30 football fields of fertile soil every minute, resulting in a loss of 10 million hectares of farmland annually.

Organic farming, on the other hand, nourishes the soil by using natural sources like decomposed plant matter or animal waste. It improves soil structure and fertility, encourages the activity of earthworms and microbes, and enhances water retention. Organic fertilisers also gradually release nutrients, allowing plants to receive all the nutrients they need without the risk of over-fertilisation.

By reducing the use of synthetic fertilisers, organic farming helps to preserve soil health, conserve water, and reduce pollution from fertiliser runoff, ultimately contributing to a healthier environment.

It lowers the risk of environmental pollution from farming

Organic farming significantly reduces the risk of environmental pollution from farming. By prohibiting the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilisers, organic farming lowers the risk of creating "ocean dead zones", which deprive life below water of vital oxygen.

Organic farming also reduces the risk of water pollution by improving soil health. Healthy soils act as natural filters, protecting underground water supplies by neutralising or filtering out potential pollutants. In addition, organic farming methods such as composting and the use of manure increase soil organic matter, further enhancing the soil's ability to filter out pollutants.

The use of natural fertilisers in organic farming also reduces the risk of water pollution. Natural fertilisers, such as green manures, animal manures, and cover crops, are often sourced locally or from the farm itself, reducing the risk of pollution associated with the transportation of artificial fertilisers.

Furthermore, organic farming standards restrict the use of peat in composts, which helps protect peatlands and peat bogs. These ecosystems are vital carbon sinks and play a crucial role in combating climate change. By conserving these environments, organic farming reduces the risk of environmental pollution and contributes to mitigating climate change.

Overall, the adoption of organic farming practices offers a more sustainable approach to agriculture, minimising the risk of pollution in soils and waterways while also capturing and storing more carbon.

Organic farming improves soil carbon sequestration

Organic farming is widely considered to be a more sustainable alternative to conventional farming when it comes to food production. By improving soil carbon sequestration, organic farming helps to reduce pollution and combat climate change.

Soil carbon sequestration is the process of capturing and storing carbon in the soil, preventing it from being released into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas. This is achieved through various agricultural practices that increase the amount of carbon stored in the soil, such as conservation tillage, mulching, cover-cropping, and integrated nutrient management.

Organic farming practices, which include the use of natural substances, biologically-based farming methods, and the avoidance of synthetic chemicals, have been shown to increase soil organic matter and carbon content. This is due to several factors:

• Higher Levels of Organic Fertilizer Use: Organic farming often involves the use of organic fertilizers such as manure and compost, which contain higher levels of carbon than synthetic fertilizers used in conventional farming. This additional carbon input leads to increased carbon sequestration in the soil.
• Diverse Crop Rotations: Organic farming typically includes diverse crop rotations, such as the inclusion of legumes, which can enhance carbon sequestration by improving soil health and increasing the amount of plant residues available for carbon build-up.
• Reduced Use of Synthetic Chemicals: By avoiding synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, organic farming reduces the release of carbon into the atmosphere. These synthetic chemicals are often derived from fossil fuels, and their production and application can contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.
• Improved Soil Health: Organic farming practices improve soil health and fertility, leading to increased carbon sequestration. Healthy soils with higher organic matter content have a greater capacity to store carbon.

The Impact of Improved Soil Carbon Sequestration

The benefits of improved soil carbon sequestration in organic farming go beyond just reducing pollution. It also:

• Enhances Water Retention: Organic matter in the soil acts like a sponge, absorbing and retaining water. This reduces the demand for irrigation and minimizes agricultural runoff, benefiting local waterways and ecosystems.
• Increases Soil Fertility: Organic farming improves soil fertility and productivity by enhancing the soil's ability to hold nutrients. This, in turn, can lead to improved crop health and yields.
• Mitigates Climate Change: By sequestering carbon in the soil, organic farming helps to combat climate change. Studies have shown that converting conventional farms to organic farms can have a significant impact on carbon emissions, equivalent to taking millions of cars off the road.

Organic farms use less energy

Organic farming uses less energy than conventional farming. A 22-year farming trial study by David Pimentel, a Cornell University professor of ecology and agriculture, concluded that organic farming uses 30% less energy than conventional farming. The study compared a conventional farm that used recommended fertilizer and pesticide applications with an organic animal-based farm (where manure was applied) and an organic legume-based farm. The two organic systems received no chemical fertilizers or pesticides.

The Rodale Institute, which promotes organic farming, has been investigating this question for over 30 years. They grow organic and conventional corn, wheat, and soy side by side on test plots and measure the energy inputs for each. According to their numbers, farming one hectare of organic corn requires 10,150 megajoules of energy, while one hectare of conventionally grown corn requires 17,372 megajoules, 71% more than the organic crop.

The difference in energy consumption is mainly due to the use of nitrogen-based fertilizer, which represents 41% of the energy used in conventional farming. The manufacture and transport of synthetic nitrogen require a lot of oil. Organic corn, on the other hand, gets its nitrogen from less energy-intensive sources, such as composted manure and nitrogen-fixing cover crops like legumes.

The energy savings of organic farming are not limited to corn. A recent review of 130 studies by Nova Scotia Agricultural College found that organic farming averages 20% higher energy savings than conventional farming across various crops. This is because organic agriculture harnesses solar energy and relies on natural and biological techniques for crop production, reducing the amount of inputs needed on the farm.

In addition to using less energy, organic farming also has other environmental benefits. It reduces pollution, conserves water, reduces soil erosion, increases soil fertility and health, and sequesters carbon in the soil.

Organic farming reduces nitrogen pollution

Nitrogen is essential for plant and animal growth, but reactive nitrogen can cause a host of environmental problems, including ozone depletion, acid rain, ocean pollution, smog, forest dieback, coastal 'dead zones', biodiversity loss, and climate change.

Organic farming is much more efficient at recycling nitrogen than conventional farming, and so helps to reduce global nitrogen pollution. Conventional farming heavily relies on newly created reactive nitrogen, primarily through the production of synthetic fertilizer. In contrast, 80-95% of organic farming's nitrogen inputs are from recycled sources, such as manure and compost.

Organic farming releases 64% less new reactive nitrogen into the environment than conventional farming. This means that more benign, non-polluting nitrogen remains in the soil and the atmosphere.

Organic farming practices, including crop rotations, composting of plant and animal materials, and the use of manure as fertilizer, result in higher rates of nitrogen recycling. Crop rotations prevent nutrient stripping from the soil, and composting improves nitrogen recycling, reducing the introduction of new nitrogen pollution to the environment.

While organic farms do lose some nitrogen to the environment during production, and may have lower yields due to lower nitrogen availability, they introduce less new reactive nitrogen into the system and thus have a smaller environmental impact.

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