This news could be the game changer we have needed to give farmers incentive to make the switch from chemical leaden, environmentally destroying, conventional farming to organic farming which improves soil quality, aids in pollination, is more nutrient rich and mitigates environmental pollution.
Farmers have been struggling. As our agriculture has become more industrialized, farmers who try to work their own land without contracting with Big Agriculture can find the competition prohibiting. If they do contract with Big Corporate Ag they may be forced to sacrifice quality as they are squeezed for profit.
A significant, new study analyzing the global competitiveness of organic farming has just been released:
The study reporting this newfound economic incentive for organics was just published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Its mission was to analyze the “financial competitiveness of organic farming on a global scale” by looking at 44 studies covering 55 crops grown in 14 countries on five continents – North America, Europe, Asia, Central America, and Australia.
The study concluded that organic farming is 22 to 35 percent more profitable for farmers than conventional agriculture.
This comes at a time when North American farmers are in great financial distress. Civil Eats reports that, in 2012, 56 percent of American farmers reported earning less than $10,000 from their farms alone, while 52 percent said it was necessary to maintain a primary job away from the farm. If organic can provide farmers with significantly more income, there’s more incentive to switch over from conventional practices.
This news comes at a time when it's become apparent that
we must reform our agricultural model if we are to mitigate climate change and prepare for future food security.
Another of the many advantages of organic foods is the individual health effects. Take a look at this experiment as a family removes conventionally raised foods from its diet and only eats organic for a two week period.