The Case Against Organic

There’s an article in the current Economist detailing the consequences, good and bad, of three movements to make food consumption more politically and environmentally sensitive. Organic, Fairtrade, and Local food are examined and the conclusions indicate that beyond making consumers feel greener (and occasionally annoyingly self satisfied) the movements may do more harm than good for people and the planet. You’re strongly encouraged to read the whole article, but here’s a summary of the major points:

Organic: The big argument here stems from the claim that organic is inherently better for the environment because it eschews pesticides and fertilizers in favor of traditional agricultural methods. But as Norman Bourlang, Nobel winning father of the ‘green revolution’ points out, it’s exactly those attributes that make organic foods bad for the environment. Specifically, the lower yields and decreased efficiency in organic farming require more land (approx three times as much) to produce the same amount of crops. Selling such items at a premium because of their putative environmental sensitivity actually just offers an incentive for more farmers to make the switch, thus eating up more land to produce the same amount of food. All this, as Bourlang puts it, “leaves less room for the rainforest.” As for health benefits to consumers, there is no evidence that conventional food is harmful or that organics are in any way nutritionally superior.

Fairtrade: Fairtrade is the practice of paying an above market price for a particular commodity to producers who meet various production and labor standards. The problem is that doing so amounts to a subsidy that stimulates overproduction and creates further downward pressure on the commodity in question, thus hurting other producers. Take Fairtrade coffee for example. Economists argue that coffee prices are low because the bean in overproduced. Low prices are usually a signal to producers to grow less or change crops, but by guaranteeing an above market price, Fairtrade actually induces MORE farmers to take up coffee by burying the price signal, thus leading to further over production. Most damning is the inefficiency of Fairtrade as a means of getting money to those it’s intended for, with a mere ten percent actually making in back to the producers. The rest of the enormous markup is simply pocketed by retailers who use the label to separate well meaning, but price insensitive customers from the rest of their lot.

Local: The main case for local is that it reduces food miles, the distance traveled from farm to consumer, thus reducing the ecological harms associated with transport. But in reality all food miles are not created equal, and the cited studies show that densely packed shipping containers and trucks can move food over great distances with less emissions per item than less efficient assemblies for local markets. Further, growing food where it’s most efficient rather than in every locality (mildly reminiscent of the backyard steel production and co-operatives of Mao’s Great Leap Forward), turns out to be not only more environmentally sensitive on the whole, but allows for desperately needed economic development in some of the neediest parts of the world.

I fully understand the draw of all these alternitives, if only because they’re alternatives. It’s not often that someone can be convinced that they’re helping to change the world by maintaining the status quo, so buying a Fairtrade blend or shopping locally seems like a step in the right direction. But the article makes a strong argument why simply feeling better about your purchases is not enough to bring about the desired underlying goals. Shoppers who buy organic, Fairtrade, and local, have demonstrated that they’re willing to pay more and look harder to have a positive effect on people and the planet. Sadly, the truly effective means of achieving these goals, a carbon tax, reform and opening of the trading system, and then end of agricultural tariffs and subsidies, especially the most egregious in American and Europe, won’t fit in your Whole Foods shopping cart.