Are Organic Foods Better for the Environment? Comparison of Environmental Costs of Organic and Conventional Foods

Biodiversity loss, soil and water pollution as well as global warming are among the most debated environmental issues worldwide. Conventional farming, which uses chemical pesticides and fertilizers, hormones and genetically modified products to obtain maximum yield per unit of land to feed the rapidly growing world population, is one of the main causes of these problems. As an alternative production system to conventional farming, organic farming has emerged to overcome environmental problems. The effectiveness of organic farming in addressing environmental issues has been debated for many years. In this chapter, the impact of organic foods on the environment is evaluated under the headings of biodiversity, soil and water quality, energy efficiency and climate change. The consensus drawn from studies is that organic farming is a more environmentally friendly production method compared to conventional farming. However, the heterogeneity of studies and environmental factors are influenced by many factors, making it difficult to reach a consensus.