Your organic tomatoes could be bad for the environment

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The world of sustainability seems to be full of contradictions. For example, in recent years we have heard non-stop that organic products are a greener option for the planet and better for our health, since no pesticides or artificial fertilizers are used. It may seem like an irrefutable argument, but new research does just that, claiming that some organic crops even contribute more to climate change .

In an article published in the June 2015 issue of the journal Agriculture and Human Values , researcher Julios McGee of the University of Oregon suggests that current organic farming is not as sustainable as it could be and that when done on a large scale scale produces more greenhouse gases than conventional agriculture.

As reported by the Quartz website when synthesizing this article, McGee used data provided by the United States Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency to determine greenhouse gas emissions related to agriculture in 49 states in that country between the year 2000 and 2008. Afterwards, he designed a model to control socioeconomic variables.

What he discovered is that organic agriculture leads to greater emissions of gases that contribute to climate change. But this is not necessarily due to organic crops but rather the way in which they are carried out. That is, the researcher Europe Cell Phone Number List believes that since much of today's agriculture is carried out by corporations that respond to demand, then organic processes are applied on a large scale using a lot of machinery, which leads to greater emissions. In addition, there are some crops, such as tomatoes, that by their nature create more of these gases, but the number multiplies when harvested on a large scale.

This is why McGee is not against organic foods per se. In fact, he recognizes that it has other environmental benefits such as less water pollution. What he believes is that he states that the challenge is to “establish the real cause of this correlation and deepen the knowledge of sustainable agricultural production.”



Also remember that the relationship between climate change and agriculture, as well as other current environmental problems, will not be solved only with technology, but rather the current system must be changed, in which more food is produced than we need, leading to increased resource use and waste

What does this mean for consumers? Maybe the important thing is not to make sure that the products we buy are organic, because there are still no conclusive studies on whether they are better for health, but to know that they come from small producers with responsible practices. For companies, it means going beyond labels and adapting all their processes to the needs of people and the planet.