Do You Really Know What Organic Farming Is?

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When I go to the grocery store or farmers’ market, I often see products labelled “organic”. People generally think that organic foods are superior in terms of their environmental footprint, as well as their health benefits. However, I feel like it’s often a label that’s used just to hike up the price of produce, because conventionally grown alternatives are much more affordable. Should I jump on the bandwagon and just start buying organic food too or is it not worth it? What’s the deal with this organic agriculture?

Organic Produce. Photo by Zeyus Media.
Well, Organic Agriculture (OA) is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) as:
“a method of agriculture in which no synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are used. It involves the management of farms so that soil fertility and pesticide problems are reduced.”
“Pesticides are chemical substances that are meant to kill pests” (Sharma & Singhvi, 2017), while fertilizers add nutrients to the soil to improve plant growth.

Basically, OA tries to recreate a natural ecological system, in which the crops and related biodiversity (organisms that live in harmony with the crops) are not affected by these synthetic additives/alterations. Therefore, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are definitely prohibited in OA.

In OA, you’d also find that, instead of synthetic fertilizers, manure is used. Farmers would also use natural methods of adding nutrients to the soil, like planting legumes, crop-rotation and inter-cropping (planting a variety of crops at the same time).
Intercropping. On the right is maize and on the left is cassava. Photo by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture.

Pesticide use in OA is restricted, so farmers use techniques like conservation tillage and biological pest control. This means that plants don’t have to be sprayed with pesticides and so organic food is presumably healthier than conventionally grown crops. In fact, one study by Hood (2003) showed that children eating organic foods had generally lower pesticide levels in their urine than children eating mostly conventional foods.

But, why is everyone against these synthetic fertilizers and pesticides? They are fast-acting, targeting the specific pest that needs to be killed or nutrient that needs to be replenished.

The problem lies in the fast-acting nature itself, since it causes the nutrients (from fertilizers) and chemicals (from pesticides) to be leached (washed out) from soils in greater amounts than using organic methods. This run-off can flow into lakes, ponds and the sea, where it can kill fish by causing eutrophication due to excessive nutrients, and the toxic chemicals can destroy aquatic life.
Eutrophication. Photo by Laura Davies.
Posters like the one above advocate Organic Farming. Photo by alanseah2.
In Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), farming systems are generally conventional. So, how do we really make a difference if we want to reduce our ‘’foodprint’’ by buying organic food?

There is a growing organic market in T&T for these products, and you can find a lot of them at farmer’s markets. Sometimes I go to the one in Santa Cruz. But, is this all really worth it? Santa Cruz is pretty far from where I live and the organic products are typically expensive. Is OA really worth all this trouble? In the next post we’ll discuss the side of OA you don't see!

In the meanwhile, check out the video below about a family whose farm successfully uses OA!


References

1. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (1998). Evaluating the potential contribution of agriculture to sustainability goals. Retrieved 27 October, 2019 from  https://tinyurl.com/y5dtt2y6
2. Sharma, N. & Singhvi, R. (2017). Effects of chemical fertilizers and pesticides on human health and environment: A review. International Journal of Agriculture, Environment and Biotechnology, 10(6), 675-679. DOI: 10.5958/2230-732X.2017.00083.3 
3. Hood, E. (2003). Organic food for thought. Environmental Health Perspectives, 111(3), A166. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.111-a166a

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