Prof. Yun
English 1A
23 July 2012
Conventional Farming V.S. Organic Farming Organic farming had not played a role in the market in the previous years, yet today it is common in grocery stores around the country. Organic farming refers to the way farmers grow and process agricultural products, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy products and meat. Organic farming is also constantly referred to as healthy, smart, beneficial, and ecofriendly but these are words used in advertisement ploys ran by large organic corporations. For centuries organic farming had been practiced, however, conventional technology has allowed us to further our reaches. Conventional Synthetic fertilizers along with pesticides, herbicides and …show more content…
Yields define your field and crop from how profitable or how fertile it may be. According to Matthew Knight, writer of dozens of reach articles for CNN says “New research looks set to refuel the debate revealing yields from organic farming to be, on average, 25% lower than conventionally-farmed produce.” (Knight). That is a substantial amount less of produce. To continue feeding such a massive population we need to farm in massive amounts. Even with organic farms on the rise it would take hundreds if not thousands or more acreage to compete, or keep stable with conventional farming. That just isn’t an option with today’s populations which is estimated to be at around 7 billion individuals, and is estimated to jump to approximately 8 billion within a lifetime. It seems like that 25% of more produce starts to show its value, the same principle applies to organic livestock. According to Joanna Pearlstein, Senior editor of research at Wired Magazine says “Dairy cows raised on organic feed aren't pumped full of hormones. That means they produce less milk per Holstein — about 8 percent less than conventionally raised cattle.”(Pearlstein). Why is going green not always what is best for the planet? Even though organic is praised for its sustainable practices, it in some cases it can be damaging to the environment rather than helping it. As Brendan I. Koerner, contributing editor