THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume IX, Issue # 148, August 7, 2007
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
CAN ORGANIC FARMING REALLY FEED THE WORLD?
ACTIVISM DISGUISED AS SCIENCE
By Alex & Dennis Avery
ORGANIC FARMING, CONVENTIONAL FARMING, & THE WORLD'S FOOD SUPPLY: ADVOCATES OF ORGANIC
AGRICULTURE USE PSEUDO-SCIENTIFIC & UNSCIENTIFIC "RESEARCH" TO MAKE SENSATIONAL CLAIMS REGARDING THE
ABILITY OF FARMERS EMPLOYING ORGANIC METHODS TO ADEQUATELY FEED THE WORLD -- THE ANALYSES OF URBAN
ACADEMICS & ENVIRONMENTALISTS ADVOCATING ORGANIC FARMING FAIL TO MEET MINIMUM SCIENTIFIC
REQUIREMENTS FOR COMPARING FOOD PRODUCTION CAPACITY IN DIFFERENT CROP PRODUCTION SYSTEMS --
ABANDONMENT OF CONVENTIONAL FARMING & TOTAL RELIANCE ON ORGANIC AGRICULTURE WOULD RESULT IN
WIDESPREAD HUNGER & MASS STARVATION
FULL STORY:
A new study published in an alternative agriculture journal has gained widespread attention by claiming that organic farming
not only could adequately feed the world, it might even yield more food and require less farmland. It is a truly sensational
claim.
In science, the more sensational the claim, the more robust the evidence needed to support it. This time, the evidence
doesn’t stack up. In fact, the evidence fell so far short that the journal that published the paper also published not one, but
two scathing and dismissive “editorial responses” in the same issue. This is anything but a ringing endorsement.
A simple comparison of the authors of the paper and critiques is revealing. The “organic can too feed the world” authors are
a collection of urban academics without any agricultural experience. The lead author studies fossil squirrel’s teeth at the
University of Michigan’s Museum of Paleontology. The others are with Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and
Environment. In contrast, the authors of the two critiques are an agronomist at the University of Nebraska, Kenneth
Cassman, and Colorado organic farmer Jim Hendrix.
As Cassman put it, “their analyses do not meet the minimum scientific requirements for comparing food production capacity
in different crop production systems.”
First, many of the studies they relied upon to support their claim simply aren’t reliable. One large data set (comprising over
half of the “yield ratios” they used to estimate food production in the developing world) are merely guestimates of increased
productivity from a questionnaire sent to activists running organic “demonstration” farms. That doesn’t even remotely
approach “science,” especially when the returned questionnaires include implausible organic yield increase claims of more
than 500 percent. Another large dataset used by the Michigan researchers is so questionable that a paper critical of it
published in the journal Field Crop Research was titled “Fantastic Yields in the System of Rice Intensification: Fact or
Fallacy?”
Central to this entire debate is the shortage of organic nitrogen fertilizer, a.k.a. manure. Currently, there is only enough
animal manure to support one fifth of current global crop production. They only way to get more organically is to devote
more land to legume crops or animal pastures that fix more nitrogen — which would require billions of acres of additional
farmland the world doesn’t currently have.
The Michigan researchers dismiss this sobering reality by calculating that, theoretically, enough nitrogen can be fixed by
growing cover crops during Fall/Winter and between crops to make up the shortfall. As Dwight D. Eisenhower once stated,
“Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you’re a thousand miles from a corn field.”
The final, sadly amusing testimony to the fantasy world occupied by these researchers comes from the conclusion of their
policy forum article, where they point to the shining example of Cuba as “one of the most progressive food systems in the
world.” where organic farming is successfully feeding a country. Ah, yes, the famed Cuban “agricultural enlightenment”
brought about by the ending of Soviet industrial fertilizer and pesticide donations.
How has Cuba fared after “going organic?” According to unofficial statistics, Cuba suffers massive food shortages and
rations basic food staples. But don’t take my word for it. Listen to Cuban immigrants interviewed in a December 27,
2006, story on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition.
Listen to the words of Joel Lopez, a skinny 19-year-old who arrived on December 14, 2006, in Miami through the
[immigration lottery], or Bomba, as it is called in Cuba. Through a translator, he said:
“Everything is so surprising here [in the U.S.A.], the cleanliness
of the streets, the food, the shops. Well, there is no comparison.
. . . I have been telling [my friends] about a Chinese buffet I went
to. I told them about how you can serve yourself again and again!”
Sitting next to him is Louisa Martinez. Her husband was a baker in Cuba. But, still for her, it’s the food that is the most
dazzling. Through a translator, she stated:
“Oh the food! Here, there is a surfeit of food. Over there, there is
a LOT of hunger. It’s terrible.”
So who are you going to believe: The urban pencil pushing elites, or the real farmers and real victims of the socalled
“progressive food” movement?
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Agriculture, the Economy, & Human Welfare:
Policy Issues Relating to Food Production
Political Economy -- Philosophies, Systems, & Public Policies:
Government, the Economy, & Economic Prosperity
Alex Avery is Director of Research and Education at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Global Food Issues and author
of the new book, The Truth About Organic Foods. Dennis Avery is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.
Readers may contact them at Post Office Box 202, Churchville, Virginia 24421 (or via email: cgf@hughes.net). The
Internet website: www.cgfi.org
Return to Top of Page
Go to the WEBSITE INDEX
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Public Issues & Political Controversies
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
Most Recent Articles
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Volume IX, 2007
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Subject Matter Highlights
Return to POLITICAL EDUCATION Homepage
CONTACT & ACCESS INFORMATION
This is not a commercial website. The sole purpose of the website is to share with interested persons information regarding civics,
civic and social education, political science, government, politics, law, constitutional law and history, public policy, and political
philosophy and history, as well as current and recent political developments, public issues, and political controversies.
POLITICAL EDUCATION, CONSERVATIVE ANALYSIS
POLITICS, SOCIETY, & THE SOVEREIGN STATE
Website of Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr.
Government, Politics, Public Policy, Legal Issues, Constitutional Law, Government & the Economy, Cultural Values, Foreign Affairs,
International Relations, Military Defense & National Security, Geopolitics, Terrorism & Homeland Security, American National Interests,
Political Systems & Processes, Political Institutions, Political Ideologies, & Political Philosophy
INDEX FOR THE ENTIRE WEBSITE
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues
Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity