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Certified organic food is not healthier or cheaper, certainly. Whether it's better for the environment is much less clear; the USDA organic requirements are pr

• deleted 6y ago
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• luc4sdreyer 6y ago
  > but synthetic fertilizer, as typically applied on commercial scale farms, is pretty darn bad for ecosystems. True. It's a big problem. However, the biggest environmental problem _right now_ is habitat loss. As in, massive habitat loss has already happened. We won't feel the really bad effects of climate change for another 100 years. Clearing forests also contribute to climate change. > Habitat loss is perhaps the greatest threat to organisms and biodiversity.[5] Temple (1986) found that 82% of endangered bird species were significantly threatened by habitat loss. Most amphibian species are also threatened by native habitat loss,[6] and some species are now only breeding in modified habitat So how do we reduce habitat loss? Well, clearing habitats for agriculture is the principal cause of habitat destruction [1]. So we should try to be efficient with the land we have. Unfortunately organic farming does the opposite [2]: > The Oxford meta-analysis of 71 studies found that organic farming requires 84% more land for an equivalent amount of harvest [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitat_destruction#Impacts_on_organisms https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitat_destruction#Impacts_on... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_farming#Land_use https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_farming#Land_use