Better For The Planet
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ORGANIC FARMING IS A HOLISTIC SYSTEM
Works with rather than against, natural systems
Organic as a Sustainable Solution
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Organic means working with nature, not against it*10
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Organic respects nature*2
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Organic farmers use nature-based methods*3
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Organic farmers use natural methods*4
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Organic farmers work within natural systems and cycles at all levels, from the soil to plants and animals*5
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Organic farming is a holistic system that works with, rather than against, natural systems*6
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Organic farming aims to minimise disruption to the natural environment*7
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Organic is rooted within living ecological systems*8
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Organic takes a balanced approach. It is designed to respect nature and to enhance the health of soils, water and air, of plants and animals, and the balance between*9
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Organic is a ‘whole system’ approach to farming and food production. It recognises the close interrelationships between all parts of the production system, from the soil, to the food on our fork*10
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Organic is a ‘whole system’ approach to farming and food production*11
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In organic, weeds are controlled, and pest
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and disease damage is reduced using techniques which are sustainable and promote environmental preservation*12
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Organic farming takes account of local and regional balances and encourages the use of on-site resources*13
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Organic production aims to maintain a healthy living soil, and positive plant and animal health*14
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Organic farming lowers the risk of environmental pollution and helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions by severely restricting the use of manufactured chemical fertilisers and pesticides.*15 Instead, organic farmers rely on developing a healthy, fertile soil and growing a mixture of crops*16 *17
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Organic farming drives sustainability in agriculture*18 *19
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Organic farming is leading the way on sustainability*20 *21
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Organic farming takes a balanced and holistic approach to sustainability*22
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Organic farming systems don’t focus on one sustainability goal over others*23
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Organic takes a whole system approach to sustainability*24
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Organic food is produced with natural fertilisers,*25 usually less energy*26 *27 and more care for animals*28
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Organic farms are more ecologically diverse*29
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Organic farms are more diverse. This helps minimise risk by reducing a farmer’s economic dependence on a single crop*30 *31
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Organic farming supports smallholder families in low-income countries*32 *33 *34
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Organic farming supports the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in low income countries*35 *36 *37
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Organic is designed to benefit nature*38
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Organic is designed to benefit insects, wildlife, and soils*39
PLEASE NOTE: Claims which are based on the higher standards of the Soil Association are italicised and in bold and marked with the Soil Association organic symbol and they do not apply across all organic farming.
Organic is a “whole system” approach to farming and food production. It recognises
the close interrelationships between all parts of the production system, from the soil, to the food on our fork
LOWER EMISSIONS
Organic farms help combat climate change. Organic farmland stores more carbon – on average 3.5 tonnes extra for every hectare (the size of nearly two football pitches). This is the greenhouse gas equivalent of driving your car around the world almost one and a half times (31,844 miles)!
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Organic farmers don’t use synthetic fertilisers which come from burning fossil fuels*41
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Soil Association organic standards severely restrict the use of peat - an important carbon sink*42
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On average, organic farms use less energy*43
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Organic farming tends to reduce energy use*44 due to the avoidance of synthetic fertilisers*45
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On average, organic vegetable farms, dairy farms, and mixed farming systems use less energy than their non-organic counterparts*46
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Soil Association organic standards support the protection of peatlands, which are vital in our fight against climate change*47
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Organic farming can help to mitigate*48 *49 climate change
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Organic farming can help to slow down climate change*50
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Organic farms tend to have lower emissions*51 • Organic fields tend to have lower emissions*52
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If Europe’s farmland all followed organic principles, agricultural emissions could drop by 40-50% by 2050, with plenty to feed the growing population healthy diets*53 *54
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Adopting nature-friendly farming, such as organic, could feed the growing population of Europe healthy diets, maintain key exports, and drop agricultural emissions by 40-50% by 2050*55 *56
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Adopting nature-friendly farming along with other key changes to our food system could help keep global warming below 2°C*57
PLEASE NOTE: Claims which are based on the higher standards of the Soil Association are italicised and in bold and marked with the Soil Association organic symbol and they do not apply across all organic farming.
FIGHTING CARBON
Organic farms sequester more carbon
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Organic farmland stores more carbon – on average 3.5 tonnes extra for every hectare (the size of nearly two football pitches). greenhouse gas equivalent of driving your car around the world almost one and a half times (31,844 miles)*59
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Organic farming stores more carbon, on average nearly 2 tonnes more carbon per football pitch area*60
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Organic soils are around 25% more effective at storing carbon in the long-term*61
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Soil carbon increases on average by 2.2% per year after converting to organic*62
Organic soils are around 25% more effective at storing carbon in the longterm *61
FIGHTING
CLIMATE CHANGE
Organic farms are more resilient to the effects of climate change*63 organic farms perform better during climate extremes*64
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Organic farms are more resilient to the effects of climate change*65
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Organic soils store up to twice as much water - this makes them more resilient in a changing climate*66
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Farming organically can protect against flooding because organic soils store twice as much water*67
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Organic soils store twice as much water*68 Organic soils help protect against flooding*69 Organic soils perform better during drought*70
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Organic soils perform better under extreme weather events*71 *72
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REFERENCES
*1.The Council of the European Union. Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007, Article 3. Organic production shall pursue the following general objectives:
(a) establish a sustainable management system for agriculture that:
(i) respects nature’s systems and cycles and sustains and enhances the health of soil, water, plants and animals and the balance between them;
(ii) contributes to a high level of biological diversity;
(iii) makes responsible use of energy and the natural resources, such as water, soil, organic matter and air;”
*2.The Council of the European Union. Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007, Article 3 [as above]
*3.Soil Association Standards for Farming & Growing v. Jan 2020. Standard 2.6
*4.Soil Association Standards for Farming & Growing v. Jan 2020. Standard 2.6
*5.Soil Association Standards for Farming & Growing v. Jan 2020. Standard 1.2
*6.Soil Association Standards for Farming & Growing v. Jan 2020. Standard 2.6
*7.Soil Association Standards for Farming & Growing v. Jan 2020. Standard 2.3
*8.Soil Association Standards for Farming & Growing v. Jan 2020. Standard 2.3
*9.The Council of the European Union. Council Regulation (EC) No 2018/848 (repealing 834/2007) General principles of EU organic standards, Article 5a “the responsible use of energy and natural resources, such as water, soil, organic matter and air”
*10. Soil Association Standards for Farming & Growing v. Jan 2020. Standard 1.2
*11. Soil Association Standards for Farming & Growing v. Jan 2020. Standard 1.2
*12. Soil Association Standards for Farming & Growing v. Jan 2020. Standard 2.6
*13. Soil Association Standards for Farming & Growing v July 2019. Standard 1.2
*14. Soil Association Standards for Farming & Growing v. Jan 2020. Standard 1.2
*15. Reganold and Wachter (2016). Organic Agriculture in the Twenty First Century. Nature Plants, 2, 15221
*16. Soil Association Standards for Farming & Growing v. Jan 2020. Standard 1.2
*17. Soil Association Standards for Farming & Growing v. Jan 2020. Standard 2.5
*18. Eyhorn, F., Muller, A., Reganold, J. P. et al. (2019) Sustainability in global agriculture driven by organic farming, Nature Sustainability, Vol 2
*19. Arbenz, M., Gould, D. and Stopes, C. (2017) ORGANIC 3.0— the vision of the global organic movement and the need for scientific support, Organic Agriculture, 7, 3
*20.Eyhorn, F., Muller, A., Reganold, J. P. et al. (2019) Sustainability in global agriculture driven by organic farming, Nature Sustainability, Vol
*21. Arbenz, M., Gould, D. and Stopes, C. (2017) ORGANIC 3.0— the vision of the global organic movement and the need for scientific support, Organic Agriculture, 7, 3
*22. Reganold and Wachter (2016). Organic Agriculture in the Twenty First Century. Nature Plants, 2, 15221
*23. Reganold and Wachter (2016). Organic Agriculture in the Twenty First Century. Nature Plants, 2, 15221
*24. Reganold and Wachter (2016). Organic Agriculture in the Twenty First Century. Nature Plants, 2, 15221
*25.Soil Association Standards for Farming & Growing v. Jan 2020. Standard 2.5
*26. Soil Association Standards for Farming & Growing v. Jan 2020. Standard 2.3.3
*27. Smith et al. (2015) The energy efficiency of organic agriculture: A review. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 30, 3
“organic farming performs better than conventional for nearly all crop types when energy use is expressed on a unit of area basis. Results are more variable per unit of product due to the lower yield for most organic crops. For livestock, ruminant production systems tend to be more energy efficient under organic management due to the production of forage in grass–clover leys. Conversely, organic poultry tend to perform worse in terms of energy use as a result of higher feed conversion ratios and mortality rates compared to conventional fully housed or free-range systems. With regard to energy sources, there is some evidence that organic farms use more renewable energy and have less of an impact on natural ecosystems. Human energy requirements on organic farms are also higher as a result of greater system diversity and manual weed control. Overall this review has found that most organic farming systems are more energy efficient than their conventional counterparts, although there are some notable exceptions.”
*28. Soil Association Standards for Farming & Growing v. Jan 2020. Standard 1.2, and 3.5 to 3.17. Also refer to the Standards Analysis Report 2012 from Compassion in World Farming & OneKind
*29. Reganold and Wachter (2016). Organic Agriculture in the Twenty First Century. Nature Plants, 2, 15221
*30. Parrott, N., Olesen, J. E. & Høgh-Jensen, H. (2006) Global Development of Organic Agriculture: Challenges and Prospects, CABI (eds Halberg, N. et al.) 153–179
*31. Reganold and Wachter (2016). Organic Agriculture in the Twenty First Century. Nature Plants, 2, 15221
“Organic farming can improve food security by diversifying on-farm crop and livestock operations, which diversifies income sources and improves variety in diets”
*32.Meinhausen, F., Toralf, R. et al. (2019) Group Certification. Internal Control Systems in Organic Agriculture: Significance, Opportunities and Challenges, the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), part of project “Consolidation of Local Certification Bodies” (ConsCert). Pdf available.
*33. Huber, B. et al. (2019) The contribution of organic agriculture in the tropics to sustainable development. Research summary presentation for workshop “The Contribution of Organic Agriculture to the SDGs: Scientific evidence from comparative research”, March 2019
*34. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL (2019) Media Release: The Contribution of Organic Agriculture to the SDGs: Scientific evidence from comparative research. 06.03.2019: “FiBL research results show that organic farming and other agro-ecological methods can be more economically beneficial for smallholder families in low-income countries than conventional methods, despite lower yields in some cases, as they require less capital and income can be higher in terms of labour input. Hence, organic farming can represent an economic advantage for smallholders in addition to the well-known environmental benefits that this agricultural system brings.”
*35. Meinhausen, F., Toralf, R. et al. (2019) Group Certification. Internal Control Systems in Organic Agriculture: Significance, Opportunities and Challenges, the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), part of project “Consolidation of Local Certification Bodies” (ConsCert). Pdf available
*36. Huber, B. et al. (2019) The contribution of organic agriculture in the tropics to sustainable development. Research summary presentation for workshop “The Contribution of Organic Agriculture to the SDGs: Scientific evidence from comparative research”, March 2019
*37. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL (2019) Media Release: The Contribution of Organic Agriculture to the SDGs: Scientific evidence from comparative research. 06.03.2019: “FiBL research results show that organic farming and other agro-ecological methods can be more economically beneficial for smallholder families in low-income countries than conventional methods, despite lower yields in some cases, as they require less capital and income can be higher in terms of labour input. Hence, organic farming can represent an economic advantage for smallholders in addition to the well-known environmental benefits that this agricultural system brings.”
*38. Soil Association Standards for Farming & Growing v. Jan 2020. Standard 1.2 and 2.3
*39. Soil Association Standards for Farming & Growing v. Jan 2020. Standard 2.3
*40. The Council of the European Union. Council Regulation (EC) No 2018/848 (repealing 834/2007) General principles of EU organic standards, Article 5a “the responsible use of energy and natural resources, such as water, soil, organic matter and air”
*41. Muller et al. (2016) Organic farming, climate change and beyond. IFOAM EU and Fibl
*42. Soil Association Standards for Farming & Growing v. Jan 2020. Standard 2.5.4
*43. Smith et al. (2015) The energy efficiency of organic agriculture: A review. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 30, 3
“organic farming performs better than conventional for nearly all crop types when energy use is expressed on a unit of area basis. Results are more variable per unit of product due to the lower yield for most organic crops. For livestock, ruminant production systems tend to be more energy efficient under organic management due to the production of forage in grass–clover leys. Conversely, organic poultry tend to perform worse in terms of energy use as a result of higher feed conversion ratios and mortality rates compared to conventional fully housed or free-range systems. With regard to energy sources, there is some evidence that organic farms use more renewable energy and have less of an impact on natural ecosystems. Human energy requirements on organic farms are also higher as a result of greater system diversity and manual weed control. Overall this review has found that most organic farming systems are more energy efficient than their conventional counterparts, although there are some notable exceptions.”
*44. Smith et al. (2015) The energy efficiency of organic agriculture: A review. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 30, 3
*45. Reganold and Wachter (2016). Organic Agriculture in the Twenty First Century. Nature Plants, 2, 15221
*46. Smith et al. (2015) The energy efficiency of organic agriculture: A review. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 30, 3
“organic farming performs better than conventional for nearly all crop types when energy use is expressed on a unit of area basis. Results are more variable per unit of product due to the lower yield for most organic crops. For livestock, ruminant production systems tend to be more energy efficient under organic management due to the production of forage in grass–clover leys. Conversely, organic poultry tend to perform worse in terms of energy use as a result of higher feed conversion ratios and mortality rates compared to conventional fully housed or free-range systems. With regard to energy sources, there is some evidence that organic farms use more renewable energy and have less of an impact on natural ecosystems. Human energy requirements on organic farms are also higher as a result of greater system diversity and manual weed control. Overall this review has found that most organic farming systems are more energy efficient than their conventional counterparts, although there are some notable exceptions.”
*47. Soil Association Standards for Farming & Growing v. Jan 2020. Standard 2.5.4
*48.Muller et al. (2016) Organic farming, climate change and beyond. IFOAM EU and Fibl
*49.Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (UN FAO) Organic Agriculture and Climate Change, Interdepartmental Working Group on Organic Agriculture. “Lower greenhouse gas emissions for crop production and enhanced carbon sequestration, coupled with additional benefits of biodiversity and other environmental services, makes organic agriculture a farming method with many advantages and considerable potential for mitigating and adopting to climate change.”
*50.Muller et al. (2016) Organic farming, climate change and beyond. IFOAM EU and Fibl
Muller et al. (2016) Organic farming, climate change and beyond. IFOAM EU and Fibl. This report calculates that if the EU converted 50% of land to organic farming by 2030, the changes to soil carbon sequestration and the avoidance of mineral fertilizers could reduce or offset greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to about 35% of total agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.
*51. Reviews by Lynch et al., Gomiero et al. and Lampkin report that organic agriculture consistently has lower energy use and greenhouse gas emissions when results are expressed on a per hectare basis:
*52.Reviews by Lynch et al., Gomiero et al. and Lampkin report that organic agriculture consistently has lower energy use and greenhouse gas emissions when results are expressed on a per hectare basis:
*53.Poux, X., Aubert, P.-M. (2018). An agroecological Europe in 2050: multifunctional agriculture for healthy eating. Findings from the Ten Years For Agroecology (TYFA) modelling exercise, Iddri-AScA, Study N°09/18, Paris, France, 74 p
*54.Poux, X., Aubert, P.-M. (2019) Agroecology and carbon neutrality in Europe by 2050: what are the issues? IDDRI, Issue brief N.05/19
*55.Poux, X., Aubert, P.-M. (2018). An agroecological Europe in 2050: multifunctional agriculture for healthy eating. Findings from the Ten Years For Agroecology (TYFA) modelling exercise, Iddri-AScA, Study N°09/18, Paris, France, 74 p
*56.Poux, X., Aubert, P.-M. (2019) Agroecology and carbon neutrality in Europe by 2050: what are the issues? IDDRI, Issue brief N.05/19
*57. Poux, X., Aubert, P.-M. (2018). An agroecological Europe in 2050: multifunctional agriculture for healthy eating. Findings from the Ten Years For Agroecology (TYFA) modelling exercise, Iddri-AScA, Study N°09/18, Paris, France, 74 p
v58. Gattinger, A., Muller, A., Haeni, M., Skinner, C., Fliessbach, A., Buchmann, N., Niggli, U. (2012). Enhanced top soil carbon stocks under organic farming. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109(44), 18226–31. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1209429109 Comparison calculated using ‘The Measure of Things’ tool available here.
*59.3.5 tonnes of carbon is equivalent to 31,844 miles in an average passenger car according to the EPA’s equivalency calculator. Earth’s circumference is 24,901 miles, driving around it one and a half times would be 37,351 miles.
*60.Gattinger, A., Muller, A., Haeni, M., Skinner, C., Fliessbach, A., Buchmann, N., Niggli, U. (2012). Enhanced top soil carbon stocks under organic farming. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109(44), 18226–31. 3.5 tonnes more carbon per hectare is 1.87 tonnes more carbon per area of organic farmland the size of a football pitch which is taken as 0.5351 hectares, as listed in ‘The Measure of Things’ tool available.
*61. Ghabbour, E. A., et al (2017) ‘National Comparison of the Total and Sequestered Organic Matter Contents of Conventional and Organic Farm Soils’, Advances in Agronomy, 146, 1-35. [twice as spongey related to 44% higher humic acid]
*62. Leifeld and Fuhrer (2010). Organic Farming and Soil Carbon Sequestration: What Do We Really Know About the Benefits? AMBIO, 39 (8), p.585-599
*63. Muller et al. (2016) Organic farming, climate change and beyond. IFOAM EU and Fibl
*64. Muller et al. (2016) Organic farming, climate change and beyond. IFOAM EU and Fibl, p12: “organic farming systems are more resilient to changing weather conditions, such as extreme droughts and extreme rainfall.”
*65. Seufert, V. and Ramankutty, N. (2017) Many shades of gray— The context-dependent performance of organic agriculture. Science Advances, 3, 3
*66. Lotter et al. (2003) The performance of organic and conventional cropping systems in an extreme climate year. American Journal of Alternative Agriculture, 18, 3
*67. Muller et al. (2016) Organic farming, climate change and beyond. IFOAM EU and Fibl, p12: Water capture and retention capacity in organically managed soils is up to 100% higher than in conventional soils.
*68. Muller et al. (2016) Organic farming, climate change and beyond. IFOAM EU and Fibl, p12: Water capture and retention capacity in organically managed soils is up to 100% higher than in conventional soils.
*69. Lotter et al. (2003) The performance of organic and conventional cropping systems in an extreme climate year. American Journal of Alternative Agriculture, 18, 3
*70. Lotter et al. (2003) The performance of organic and conventional cropping systems in an extreme climate year. American Journal of Alternative Agriculture, 18, 3
*71. Lotter et al. (2003) The performance of organic and conventional cropping systems in an extreme climate year. American Journal of Alternative Agriculture, 18, 3
*72. Reganold and Wachter (2016). Organic Agriculture in the Twenty First Century. Nature Plants, 2, 15221