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Mac Ramsey
Mrs. Nordquist
ENGL Comp. II
March 287, 2017
The Advantages of Organic Farming

A common misconception about the worldsworlds food source is that if population

growth continues to increase at the current the same rate, that food production will be unable to

keep upmatch that pace. The push to industrialize the agriculture industry in order to prevent a

food crisis is based on this misconception. An alternative to this industrialization is to implement

organic and sustainable farming techniques as our primary mode of food production. Sustainable

farming is a great more effective alternative toreplacement for modern farming techniques due to

its ability to provide an adequate amount of food for the planet, adjust and prepare for the effects

of global warming, and preserve soil health through proper care and rotation, and preparing for

the effects of global warming in addition to preventing further escalation..

Feeding the planet is not necessarily an issue solved through industrializing agriculture

but rather through a better distribution of resourceswith better distribution of resources solves the

issue of feeding everyone more efficiently than industrialized agriculture. In 2011, the global

population reached 7 billion people with nearly 3 billion of them living in poverty in spite of of

the fact that global food production has increasedincreasing by over 50% (Bratspies 214). In

developed nations, such as the U.S., obesity is often an epidemic that coexists with poverty and

hunger indicating sufficient food production but poor distribution. From 1970 to 2010, the global

population nearly doubled, leading causing some to believe that food production would have no

chance of keeping up. This would be a false notion as the rate of production has also increased in
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the same period. In her article discussing the role of technology in food production, Rebecca

Bratspies states that gGlobal food production in 2003 was able to provide 2,809 calorieskcal/ per

person per /day, showing that food production is again not the issue but rather distribution of the

food produced to the people in need (Bratspies 10). Currently, organic farming is often the only

provider of food to almost 2 billion people suffering from poverty around the world while (ETC

pg7). Organic farming provides more food, usinges fewer resources, such as water, and reducing,

and reduces GgreenHhouse Ggas (GHG) emissions by nearly 60% in the next decade (ETCETC

11). With There is little evidence showing an impending food shortage crisis, the so the argument

that industrialized food production is necessary to feed the world falls flat. In comparison, if

organic farming were adapted on a much larger scale it would be able to not only provide a more

diverse food supply, to the world but also reduce GHG emissions and combat global warming.

One of the major causes of global warming is the production of GHG and the effects they

have on our atmosphere, with the use of fossil fuels and their use being the largest source of

GHG production (NASA). According to NASAs climate change webpage, global temperatures

are expected to rise, as well asin addition to greater fluctuations in precipitation patterns and

droughts becoming more common. The worlds response to climate change is likely to result in

changes toin agriculture policypolicy in agriculture, that which would favor farming practices

that use less fossil fuels and produce fewer GHG emissions, both of which sustainable farming

can provideoffer. (USDA Report). This is in contrast to the growing industrialization of farming

techniques that use around 80% of all fossil fuels and 70% of water currently consumed in

agriculture, both of which will be resources affected by global warming (ETC 6). One of the

major causes of global warming is the production of GHG and the effects they have on our

atmosphere, with fossil fuels and their use being the largest source of GHG production (NASA).
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Organic farming uses a fraction of the amount of fossil fuels that industrial farming uses, which

leads to a decrease in overall GHG emissions. This indicates that this technique of farming will

not only help prevent further effects of global warming but will also be able to survive whatever

policy changes might be implemented in hopes of preventing more intense climate change.

In addition to global warming, another problem that modern farming practices face is soil

degradation and overall health. Current practices employ poor rotation as well as a smaller

variety of crops in the rotation. This can cause damage to soil health and cause a need for further

use of soil damaging fertilizers and practices leading to a cycle of constant soil abuse. In a study

conducted by various experts in agriculture that compared the levels of elements in soil that are

vital to crop and soil health, it was found that organic farming methods left higher levels of these

elements when compared to conventional techniques (Soil Health Report). The method of

conducting this study was to take initial readings on soil composition in their test area and then

apply multiple farming techniques to the area, some using organic sources of fertilization and a

crop rotation found in organic farming with others using more conventional practices of synthetic

fertilizers and crop rotation. The results showed that levels of Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorous,

and Potassium were all higher in the organic test area when compared to conventional practices

(Soil Health report). This shows that organic farming is the better option for promoting healthier

and more fertile soil, which increases the sustainability of organic farming while also lowering

the environmental impacts of agriculture by reducing the use of synthetic fertilizers and

preventing erosion. Promoting healthier soil increases the sustainability of any farming system

by giving plants a healthier foundation for growing and preventing soil degradation; organic

farming practices accomplish this more efficiently than current farming techniques can.
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Industrialized farming is currently the primary production practice in the world, but by

informing people of sustainable alternatives such as organic farming this can change. With

manufactured issues such as the supposed food scarcity in the world this can be a difficult goal to

accomplish, but the solution is clear. If food scarcity were an actual problem, organic farming

would still be a viable solution as well as helping combat other issues that agriculture faces such

as climate change and soil degradation. The world is far from having this practice of farming

becoming the norm, but with new information becoming available as well as a growing need to

secure the planets health, organic farming may one day be our primary source of food

production.
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Works Cited

Bratspies, Rebecca M. Food, Hunger and Technology. SSRN Electronic Journal, vol. 10.2,

2014, pp. 212224. Sage Publications, doi:10.2139/ssrn.2118749. Accessed 27 Feb.

2017.

Clark, M. Sean, et al. Changes in Soil Chemical Properties Resulting from Organic and Low-

Input Farming Practices. Agronomy Journal, vol. 90, no. 5, Sep.-Oct. 1998, p. 662.,

Accessed 27 Feb. 2017.

Global Climate Change. NASA, NASA, 2 June 2014, climate.nasa.gov/. Accessed 25 Feb.

2017.

USDA Advisory Committee. "Preparing for the Future." Government Report. n.d. Document.

With Climate Chaos, Who Will Feed US? ETC Group, Action Group on Erosion, Technology,

and Concentration, 19 May 2014, pp. 327., Accessed 7 Mar. 2017.