Organic is better
This article was originally published in April 2016
A systematic review of more than 100 studies comparing organic and conventional farming finds that organic crop yields are higher than previously thought. University of California, Berkeley researchers said, “With global food needs predicted to greatly increase in the next 50 years, it’s critical to look more closely at organic farming because, aside from the environmental impacts of industrial agriculture, the ability of synthetic fertilizers to increase crop yields has been declining.” They also pointed out that available studies comparing farming methods often were biased in favor of conventional agriculture, so estimates of the yield gap are overestimated. Researchers found no significant differences in organic and conventional yields for crops such as beans, peas and lentils.