September 28, 2007
Why organic food can't feed the world
Craig Meisner in Cosmos:
Can organic food feed the world? A recent study, published in the journal Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems provides new data that suggests it can. However, I have some grave reservations about this prospect that are based on my experience as a scientist and my time living and working with real farmers in developing nations.
The authors of this study assume the major stumbling blocks to organic farming feeding the world are low crop yields and insufficient quantities of approved organic fertilisers. However, I have lived and worked in Bangladesh – as a professor of Cornell University, covering agricultural research and development – for the last 25 years, and I believe that even if these problems could be surmounted, using organic farming to feed the developing world remains a pipe dream.
More here.
Posted by Abbas Raza at 04:34 PM | Permalink
Comments
The amount of people organic foods will feed, might come under the heading "sustainable population". Could it be that there is enough food, just too many people?
Posted by: eric | Sep 28, 2007 10:40:58 PM
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