What is the case for and against organic farming that includes consideration of environmental issues and the world foods?

Answer 1

The case for organic farming includes growing without the use of chemicals, which are known to pollute the environment. Also, rather than just adding chemical fertilizers that include only the minimum of nutrients, organic farming builds up the soil by using cover crops that are worked into the soil and compost to replenish a variety of nutrients, including micro-nutrients, to the soil. Organic farming is actually good for the environment.

Though many claim that organic foods cannot feed the world, that is debatable. They actually may be better at feeding the world than some newer developments. Though feeding the world is used as a selling point, they simply are not showing that they can live up to those claims.

One potential problem with larger-scale organic farming is that it is heavily dependent on the use of animal manure and composting for plant nutrients. While these are very effective, proper care must be exercised in the use of manure since it can pollute just as easily as synthetic fertilizer if not properly managed. Compost actually has a "carbon footprint" (refers to greenhouse gas emissions in the area of climate change) approximately 15 times higher than synthetic urea nitrogen fertilizer.