Common Doubts and Misconceptions About Organic Agriculture, IFOAM Explains (Part 1)

[Introduction] What exactly does the word "organic" in organic agriculture mean? All kinds of true and false statements and opinions fill the public view at the same time, so that people's understanding of "organic" still contains more or fewer misconceptions. The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), as the authoritative leading body of organic agriculture, is also well aware of this confusing state of affairs. Therefore, after thorough research and summarization, it published online a 71-page report, "Criticisms and Frequent Misconceptions about Organic Agriculture", citing multiple research reports and deeply analyzing common misconceptions about "organic" around the world. This article is a selected translation of the essential parts of the original report. (For the original IFOAM report and references, please click here to download.)

Is organic agriculture better for health?
Misconception: Pesticide residues in conventional food are always within safe limits.
Interpretation:

• In the United States and Europe, some conventional foods contain pesticide residues above legal limits. Therefore, most people have pesticide residues in their bodies (100% of Americans have pesticide residues in their bodies), and if they switch to an organic diet, the amount of pesticide residues in the body can be significantly reduced.
• The legal "maximum residue limit" cannot serve as a guarantee of "zero health risk".
• Current toxicology holds that only when the dose of a toxic substance exceeds a "harmful" level does it affect the human body; below that level, no effect exists. But in fact, for most toxic substances, as long as the human body comes into contact with the substance, it is at health risk, and this risk increases as the exposure dose increases.
• Different pesticide residues together have a "synergistic effect". This means that even if the dose of a single pesticide residue is below the "maximum residue limit", the overall effect on the human body when various pesticide residues are mixed together is far greater than the sum of the effects caused by each single pesticide residue separately.
• In developing countries, most of the time, governments do not regulate pesticide residues in food.
• There are very many varieties of toxic pesticides, and in each survey it is impossible to test for every pesticide. Several pesticide residues not exceeding the limits does not mean that all pesticide residues in that sample do not exceed the limits.

Misconception: There is no evidence that organic food is more nutritious than conventional food.

Interpretation:

• Many studies, including research by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, show that organic food is more nutritious. Organic food has lower nitrate content, higher antioxidant content, lower pesticide residues, and more minerals, vitamins, and more balanced protein. In terms of heavy metals and pathogenic bacteria, organic food differs little from other food.
• Organic food has a longer growth cycle, so it has enough time to synthesize key nutrients.
• Among processed foods, organic food is also healthier, because it prohibits harmful food additives such as aspartame, MSG, and hydrogenated oils.
• Organic food is not a luxury; it also gives food back the appearance it should originally have.

Misconception: Organic agriculture operators spread fear of non-organic products so that they can gain a larger market share.
Interpretation:

• Those who try to make people not buy organic food are precisely the people and groups that profit from petroleum-based agriculture.
• Many people and groups that do not gain economic benefit from organic sales are also committed to promoting the benefits of eating organic food.
• Petroleum-based agriculture is backed by powerful lobbying groups. Organic agriculture advocates increased self-sufficiency and reduced dependence on external inputs, so organic agriculture is not connected with any powerful lobbying group.
• Some companies that do not focus on organic products (for example, Danone also produces organic food, and Nike has organic cotton clothing) are also beginning to sell organic products more and more. They will not criticize their own non-organic products.
• There are many rational reasons to make people reduce their consumption of petroleum-based agricultural products, and only when these reasons are known to the public can a fairer market environment be created.

Misconception: Organic agriculture brings more food safety risks - because of the use of organic manure, organic food contains large amounts of bacteria such as E. coli.
Interpretation:

• Non-organic cultivation also requires the use of manure. Ordinary farmers apply large amounts of uncomposted organic fertilizer under conditions of lacking regulation. Organic cultivation, however, has strict requirements for manure, such as requiring composted fertilizer and prohibiting the use of manure within a certain period before harvest.
• Organic agriculture focuses on ensuring the health of farmed animals and reducing pathogenic bacteria in manure. For example, a USDA study showed that compared with grain-fed cattle, grass-fed cattle are less likely to produce the toxic E. coli O157:H7.

Misconception: Some biopesticides allowed in organic agriculture are harmful to health, for example pyrethrins and rotenone are both toxic.
Interpretation:

• Biopesticides degrade very quickly and basically leave no pesticide residues. For example, rotenone decomposes in sunlight and will not remain in the environment for more than one week.
• More importantly, during cultivation, organic agriculture first adopts preventive measures. By using crop rotation, diversified planting, disease-resistant varieties, and so on, organic farming can reduce the need for biopesticides.

Is organic agriculture more environmentally friendly?
Misconception: Biopesticides have low efficacy, so huge doses need to be applied. Organic grape growing requires the application of copper salt pesticides, thus polluting the soil. Some biopesticides (such as nicotine and pyrethrins) are as toxic as chemical pesticides.
Interpretation:

• Natural chemical substances may be toxic to some organisms, but they are harmless to the overall environment, and biopesticides do not accumulate in the food chain like synthetic chemical pesticides.
• Organic agriculture prohibits the use of pure nicotine as a pesticide. However, tobacco leaf water can be used to kill pests, because its nicotine content is very low and it degrades quickly in the environment. Making pesticides such as tobacco leaf water on the farm can reduce farmers' dependence on chemical pesticide manufacturers. (Nevertheless, the organic standards of the United States, the European Union, and Japan also prohibit tobacco leaf water.)
• Pyrethrins are one of the pesticides with the lowest toxicity to mammals. They can bind tightly to soil (with little possibility of polluting water bodies) and can decompose in sunlight.
• People are studying substitutes for copper salt pesticides, such as potassium bicarbonate, dairy by-products, microbial pesticides, and so on. Many organic certification bodies also place restrictions on copper salt use.
• Most importantly, in any case, organic agriculture first adopts preventive measures, and biopesticides are used only when there is no alternative.

Misconception: Because of low yields, organic agriculture will convert more natural areas into farmland, thereby damaging ecosystems and reducing biodiversity.
Interpretation:

• In developed countries, organic agriculture yields are about 20% lower than petroleum-based agriculture yields. In developing countries, especially in tropical regions with high biodiversity, organic yields are higher than petroleum-based agriculture.
• The ecological damage of petroleum-based agriculture is well known. Its impact can even extend to a very wide range beyond the farm. For example, the loss of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer from farmland contributed to the formation of a 5,500-square-mile "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico; in this area, the water contains extremely little oxygen in summer and cannot sustain organisms.
• Biodiversity cannot exist on isolated patches of land. Because organic farmland is not polluted by pesticides, it can serve as ecological corridors to help wildlife migrate. Organic agriculture can increase the diversity of soil, crops, wild animals, and farmed animals.

Misconception: Because of the regional nature of crops, some organic foods cannot be grown everywhere, because consumers often need to buy imported organic food, which creates more pollution than consuming conventional food.
Interpretation:

• Petroleum-based agriculture also has regional limitations. Being able to use chemical fertilizers and pesticides does not mean you can grow any crop anywhere. If a place cannot grow a certain crop organically, then petroleum-based agriculture there also cannot grow that crop (and even if it can, the cost and pollution are enormous).
• Ordinary "local" animal farming may not be so "localized". For example, pig farms in the United States may use feed produced in Argentina and equipment from Europe. By contrast, organic farms that are also local (within 100 km) use feed produced on their own farm or on neighboring farms. IFOAM's basic standards require that most of the feed (at least 50%) come from the farm itself or from other local organic farms cooperating with that farm.
• Consuming local products as much as possible is of course more environmentally friendly. If a person gets used to the good taste of local seasonal organic food, then their motivation to buy non-local out-of-season food will decrease, because the latter (even if organic) may also have been picked before it naturally ripened.

Is organic food too expensive?
Misconception: Organic food is too expensive.
Interpretation:

• Petroleum-based agriculture has many hidden costs, such as external environmental costs and social costs. These costs are not included in the product selling price. In the end, taxpayers' money still has to be used to deal with these environmental and social problems.
• Organic food includes not only the price of the food itself, but also the following factors: environmental governance and protection, higher animal welfare, protection of farmers' and consumers' health, increasing rural employment opportunities to promote rural development, and ensuring farmers' income.
• Certified organic food is more expensive because production and certification costs are high, and also because of consumer demand for it (supply is less than demand).
• The situation of uncertified organic food is very different. Many farming systems fully meet the requirements of organic cultivation but are not certified. These agricultural products are usually sold locally, and their prices are similar to conventional food. Some studies show that uncertified organic agriculture can reduce production costs by increasing yields while reducing the use of external inputs.
• Large-scale petroleum-based agriculture can receive large amounts of government subsidies. Therefore, the prices of organic and conventional products are in a state of unfair competition.
• Because their share of the overall food market is small, the costs of producing, transporting, processing, and promoting organic food are relatively high. As market share increases and technological innovation advances, the cost of organic food will also decrease.
• In short, it is not that organic is too expensive, but that conventional food is too cheap.

Misconception: The organic movement allows rich people to eat healthy food, while poor people can only eat unhealthy food, thereby widening the gap between rich and poor.
Interpretation:

• Organic is not the preserve of the rich; many organic consumers belong to low-income groups.
• A mainly vegetarian, seasonal organic diet is not more expensive than a non-organic diet, and is healthier than a mainly meat-based conventional diet.
• As the market share of organic food increases, the price gap between organic and non-organic food is narrowing.
• Besides income level, many factors influence people's decision whether to buy organic food.
• As mentioned above, in developing countries, some locally produced uncertified organic food is not more expensive than conventional food.

Misconception: Organic certification is only paperwork and untrustworthy, and organic producers will commit fraud.

Interpretation: Fraud is a phenomenon very difficult to eliminate in this society. The organic market, although it is the system with the highest quality management in the entire food market, still cannot avoid fraudulent behavior. However, every exposure of fraudulent behavior can help improve organic certification, because certification bodies' quality assurance systems are adaptive and need to be continuously improved.

Misconception: Organic is just a sales gimmick.
Interpretation:

• In Europe, organic agriculture was initiated by some far-sighted farms, at a time when there was not yet market demand for organic food. Today, market demand for organic food is growing, and organic marketing strategies are also very basic, committed to explaining to consumers the true face of organic agriculture.
• Organic certification can help consumers identify products that meet organic standards. It should be pointed out that organic certification is certification of the production process, ensuring that the product is produced in an ecologically friendly way. Organic certification is not certification of product quality itself.
• In addition to third-party certification, other guarantee systems also provide equally credible guarantees for organic products. For example, participatory guarantee systems, through the joint participation of farmers and consumers in certification, provide trustworthy organic food for local and even non-local markets.

Translator: Jing (Yogeev reporter)