Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 5.1
Percentages of certifi ed organic crops planted on U.S. cropland, 2008
Crop
Percentage
Vegetables
8.7
Fruits
3.1
Millet
2.1
Rice
1.8
Oats
1.5
Barley
1.2
Rye
0.9
Wheat
0.7
Corn
0.2
Soybeans
0.2
Sorghum
0.2
Source:
U.S. Department of Agriculture, “Organic Production”.
crop acreage, with California, Wyoming, and Texas leading the way.
Vegetables are the favored crop (
table 5.1). Every state has some organic
farmland. However, imports of certifi ed organic products have increased
as demand in the United States for organic foods has exceeded domestic
supply.
Organic crops are grown using natural fertilizers such as animal
manures or natural plant materials, and without the use of artifi cial
chemical pesticides. Pests are controlled using the insects that prey on
them and by crop rotation. Surveys have shown that yields from organic
fi elds are comparable to those of conventional systems over the long
run.
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In addition, organic foods are more nutritious. As a bonus, organic
farming uses less fossil fuel, keeps more water in the soil to resist
drought, causes less erosion, and maintains better soil quality.
Organic fruits and vegetables are not totally free of artifi cial pesticides
but they harbor considerably fewer of them (
table 5.2). The president's
cancer panel in 2010 recommended that consumers turn to organic food
if possible, a stunning condemnation of the nation's food system. Conven-
tionally grown produce has pesticide residues far more often than organi-
cally grown produce, and the amounts of pesticide they bear are higher
two-thirds of the time. The conventional crops also contain multiple pes-
ticides eight times more often than organically grown produce does.
There are several possible explanations for why produce grown organ-
ically contains artifi cial pesticides. Some of the produce may have been
