Why Organic Farming Can Ensure Sustenance of Production and Provision of Food for The Expanding Human Population

This issue is all about organic farming and its possibility it has to be a better more sustainable way to produce food. Brian Halweil says yes that organic farming’s yield is high enough to be able to sustain the future population; however John J. Miller says that the yield is too small and won’t be enough to support the larger future population. I agree with Miller, organic farming, at least the way it is now, will not be able to produce enough.

Miller’s argument makes solid points. He started by giving an example of a pest infestation of an organic farm that is easily preventable through the use of pesticides. The pest caused decay and the decay of the corn left bacteria residue that could cause cancer. This is one downside to organic foods. Another well not really a downside for organic food but just a plus for non-organic food is: food is the safest it has ever been. This is due impart to the use of pesticides and herbicides and antibiotics. But with organic foods you’re taking the risk of not having any of these regulatory or managing devices.

I think the whole organic label is just a selling point and really one sided. They over inflate the pros and thoroughly hide the cons. GMOs also get rid of the need for pesticides and herbicides, which many people are weary about, plus have a higher yield. The yield of organically grown food is not enough to sustain a larger future population, the loss to pests and disease is too large and there are too few harvests available. We learned in class that GMOs or even just modern techniques greatly lower the loss rate and up the times it can be harvested.

So the postscript mentions the declining soil conditions. This only solidifies my position that organic just won’t cut it. “Natural” or organic growing can only take place in certain conditions and if the soil gets bad enough it just won’t happen. So the food needed will have to be of a different source, like GMOs or just helped along by the use of pesticides and herbicides.