Illinois Fertilizer & Chemical Association
Supply · Service · Stewardship

Organic Food Is Worse for the Climate Than Non-Organic Food

Organic food has a larger impact on the climate than conventional food because of the greater area of land required to farm it.
 
A study published Wednesday in the journal Nature found that farming organic food can result in much higher emissions than non-organic farming. According to a press release from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, researchers discovered that farming organic peas resulted in a 50 percent larger climate impact than farming non-organic peas.
 
Additionally, some organic food has an even greater climate impact. Organic Swedish winter wheat results in a 70 percent increased impact. The reason behind this is that much less organic food can be grown in an area than conventional food. The press release states that "organic food is so much worse for the climate [because] the yields per hectare are much lower," mostly due to the fact that fertilizers aren't being used.
 
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