Organic food may not be sustainable says UK-report

Organic food may not be sustainable says UK-report
mongabay.com
February 20, 2007

Organic farming is not necessarily sustainable reports Britain's environmental protection agency, DEFRA (the Department of Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs), in a new study conducted by the Manchester Business School.

The report, titled "The Environmental Impact of Food Production and Consumption", concludes that the environmental benefits of organic food production are not clear noting that locally-sourced rather than globally-sourced products are not necessarily more energy efficient and that reduced use of fertilizers requires more, not less, land for agriculture, increasing pressure on natural forests and ecosystems.

The report is based on the analysis of the full environmental impacts of 150 top-selling food items, including "effect on water in the area (both usage and pollution), energy use for cultivation, global warming potential, impacts arising from nutrient releases, processing impacts, refrigeration and packaging impacts."

"This is the first time such a comprehensive review of the available evidence has been carried out in the UK, and it highlights some challenging problems that DEFRA will need to consider in their development of policies for sustainable food production and consumption," said project director Ken Green, a professor at the Manchester Business School. "If you are concerned about the 'carbon footprint' of foods, there can be good case for importing some of them (eg tomatoes or lamb) even if they can be grown in the UK. The evidence available so far shows that 'local' is not always the best option for the environment."

The authors caution that the report only considers the environmental effects of food production and consumption, such as social or economic reasons for buying locally-produced foods.

A draft version of the 198-page report can be found at DEFRA [6 MB PDF]

Citation: Foster, C. et al. (2007) The Environmental Impact of Food Production and Consumption A report to the Department of Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs. Manchester Business School. DEFRA, London.

This article is based on a news release from Manchester Business School.

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