Many consumers believe buying organic is “voting with their dollars” for environmentally sustainable farming. Is that science or myth? There is a huge divergence between consumer beliefs and environmentally-optimal farming methods. This is the latest in the GLP-Center for Food Integrity 18-part series GMO: Beyond the Science.......Many consumers are convinced that organic means no pesticides. In fact, both organic and conventional farmers use pesticides in order to protect their crops from inordinate damage from insects, nematodes, fungi and other pests. Failing to do so would have the environmental downside of reducing the efficiency with which those farmers use resources like land, water, fuel, labor and fertilizer.
Not only do both organic and conventional farmers use pesticides, in many cases they use the same pesticides. In 2013 in California’s diverse agricultural sector, 55% of the total pounds of pesticides applied were made with chemical or biological materials approved for organic, and those pesticides were used by both categories of growers........organic farmers are using less environmentally friendly options such as ‘natural’ copper sulfate, which is acutely toxic, mutagenic, and which can bioaccumulate in the ecosystem, threatening aquatic wildlife.......To Read More....
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