Here are some quick numbers from the study:
- Organic methods produced 4,079 lbs per acre - conventional farming produced 4,022 lbs per acre.
- Organic methods netted $558 per acre profit - conventional farming netted $190 per acre profit.
- It took 3,264 megajoules of energy to produce organic crops per acre per year. It took 4,568 megajoules of energy to produce those same crops conventionally.
- Greenhouse gas emissions from organics were 906 lbs of carbon dioxide per acre a year with organics. Conventional crops produced 1,400 lbs of carbon dioxide per acre a year.
- In years of drought, organic crops outperformed even those GMO crops designated "drought resistant."
According to Andre Leu in his article The Benefits of Organic Food, "A scientific study published in the Journal of Applied Nutrition in 1993 clearly showed that organic food is more nutritious than conventional food. Organically and conventionally grown apples, potatoes, pears, wheat, and sweet corn were purchased over two years in the western suburbs of Chicago, and then analyzed for mineral content. The organically grown food was on average 63 percent higher in calcium, 73 percent higher in iron, 118 percent higher in magnesium, 178 percent higher in molybdenum, 91 percent higher in phosphorus, 125 percent higher in potassium, and 60 percent higher in zinc. In addition, the organic food was on average 29 percent lower in mercury than the conventionally raised food." Taken from Earthly Delights: Do You Know?
From this, I would like to suggest that if more farmers would get to growing organic, the prices in the stores would come down. We also need to get congress to stop allowing natural seeds to be patented or in the future, you will not be able to buy organic seeds and save them from your crops if you grow your own.
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