Soil salinity is claiming about 3 hectares, or 7.4 acres, of usable land
from conventional crop farming every minute.
Errol Schweizer, national grocery buyer at Whole Foods, said he was already seeing shortages in organic and conventional seeds, as well as in commodity ingredients sourced
from conventional crops.
Not exact matches
Tropical Traditions has a ZERO tolerance level for GMOs, herbicides, and pesticides, and since the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) allows small residue amounts of pesticides and herbicides approved by the EPA for
conventional crops to be present in USDA Organic certified products, we knew that we had to develop our own standards to both use in purchasing products directly
from producers, as well as to educate our consumers on our own values and standards.
From their analysis, which is not based on omic technologies but represents the most comprehensive compilation of GE
crop composition data to date, the authors conclude that compositional differences between GE varieties and their
conventional comparators are «encompassed within the natural variability of the
conventional crop and that the composition of GM and
conventional crops can not be disaggregated.»
Crop production during conversion
from conventional to low - input methods.
Analysing 343 studies into the compositional differences between organic and
conventional crops, the team found that a switch to eating organic fruit, vegetable and cereals — and food made
from them — would provide additional antioxidants equivalent to eating between 1 - 2 extra portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
At Clif Bar, the company is tackling the yield gap by investing in plant breeding, contributing to an agriculture fund that helps provide technical assistance to educate growers and investing in infrastructure that will help reduce the distance that organic producers must transport their
crops from the farm gate to the aggregator or processor, which is a significantly longer distance than for most
conventional producers, Dillion said.
Environmentally Friendly — Organic cotton is friendlier on Mama Earth than a
conventional cotton
crop, which uses more chemicals
from start to finish than any other
crop.
In fact, the FDA has ruled that because DNA is in every living organism,
crops engineered with added genes are «substantially the same» as other foods and are no different
from crops genetically modified through
conventional breeding techniques.
By dramatically improving the speed and efficiency of conversion over
conventional approaches, these enzymes could stimulate efforts to grow
crops for fuel, with implications for biodiversity in the form of increased land use for this purpose, potential shifts away
from fossil fuel use and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
Although fertilizer derived
from human waste is prohibited for organic
crops, it can be used for
conventional crops and for other applications, such as maintaining golf courses.
«
Conventional» biofuels are made from food crops and so compete with food for land, yet efforts to limit the use of conventional biofuels did not make it into the 200
Conventional» biofuels are made
from food
crops and so compete with food for land, yet efforts to limit the use of
conventional biofuels did not make it into the 200
conventional biofuels did not make it into the 2009 directive.
Conventional efforts, like no - till farming and cover
crops, have tried to address nutrient runoff by slowing its movement
from soils to waterways.
Now biodiesel entrepreneurs in tropical zones in Africa and India are buying up land, starting plantations and looking forward to making fuel
from the seeds, which, they argue, will be better for the global environment and economy than
conventional biofuel
crops grown in temperate climates.
As it stands, such cellulosic biorefineries get their materials either
from the residue of
conventional crops, such as corn stover, or
from harvesting trees.
A large group of government researchers
from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Merlewood, Rothamsted Research, and the Scottish
Crop Research Institute designed a trial that would pit three GM
crops against
conventional counterparts in some 60 fields across the country.
The authors propose that the conflicting results
from previous research on organic and
conventional crops» phytochemical content could be a function of short study periods and the exclusion of variables such as weather.
«We are in urgent need of new ways to control insect pests on
crops, with very limited options available
from pesticide sprays and
conventional breeding.
In addition, many other «
conventional»
crops also receive government support
from the taxpayers, including milk.
Concluding, that the benefits
from GM
crops are much lower than can be obtained «with either
conventional breeding or agro-ecology-based techniques»
from just a tiny fraction of the investment in research.
[ANDY REVKIN comments: I'm pretty sure they've changed over to using all ethanol fuel, which is a step in the right direction ONLY if the fuel is
from crops grown and harvested without using a lot of
conventional fossil fuel.]
Among these are shifting
from conventional tillage to minimum - till and no - till, the more extensive use of cover
crops, the return of all livestock and poultry manure to the land, expansion of irrigated area, a return to more mixed
crop - livestock farming, and the forestation of marginal farmlands.
Leading biofuels wreak environmental havoc (1/3/2008) Biofuels made
from world's dominant energy
crops — including corn, soy, and oil palm — may have worse environment impacts than
conventional fossil fuels, reports a study published in the journal Science.
Savage took these unprecedented USDA / NASS data and compared them with similar USDA statistics
from conventional agriculture during the same
crop year.
Giving his suggestions, he stressed the need for developing varieties (idealistic plants)
from climate change perspective and introduction of new
crops using
conventional as well as mutation breeding through biotechnology and genetic engineering.
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from Incandescents to Compact Fluorescents Could Close 270 Coal - Fired Power Plants» (5/9/07) «Massive Diversion of U.S. Grain to Fuel Cars is Raising World Food Prices» (3/21/07) «Distillery Demand for Grain to Fuel Cars Vastly Understated: World May Be Facing Highest Grain Prices in History» (1/4/07) «Santa Claus is Chinese OR Why China is Rising and the United States is Declining» (12/14/06) «Exploding U.S. Grain Demand for Automotive Fuel Threatens World Food Security and Political Stability» (11/3/06) «The Earth is Shrinking: Advancing Deserts and Rising Seas Squeezing Civilization» (11/15/06) «U.S. Population Reaches 300 Million, Heading for 400 Million: No Cause for Celebration» (10/4/06) «Supermarkets and Service Stations Now Competing for Grain» (7/13/06) «Let's Raise Gas Taxes and Lower Income Taxes» (5/12/06) «Wind Energy Demand Booming: Cost Dropping Below
Conventional Sources Marks Key Milestone in U.S. Shift to Renewable Energy» (3/22/06) «Learning
From China: Why the Western Economic Model Will not Work for the World» (3/9/05) «China Replacing the United States and World's Leading Consumer» (2/16/05)» Foreign Policy Damaging U.S. Economy» (10/27/04) «A Short Path to Oil Independence» (10/13/04) «World Food Security Deteriorating: Food Crunch In 2005 Now Likely» (05/05/04) «World Food Prices Rising: Decades of Environmental Neglect Shrinking Harvests in Key Countries» (04/28/04) «Saudis Have U.S. Over a Barrel: Shifting Terms of Trade Between Grain and Oil» (4/14/04) «Europe Leading World Into Age of Wind Energy» (4/8/04) «China's Shrinking Grain Harvest: How Its Growing Grain Imports Will Affect World Food Prices» (3/10/04) «U.S. Leading World Away From Cigarettes» (2/18/04) «Troubling New Flows of Environmental Refugees» (1/28/04) «Wakeup Call on the Food Front» (12/16/03) «Coal: U.S. Promotes While Canada and Europe Move Beyond» (12/3/03) «World Facing Fourth Consecutive Grain Harvest Shortfall» (9/17/03) «Record Temperatures Shrinking World Grain Harvest» (8/27/03) «China Losing War with Advancing Deserts» (8/4/03) «Wind Power Set to Become World's Leading Energy Source» (6/25/03) «World Creating Food Bubble Economy Based on Unsustainable Use of Water» (3/13/03) «Global Temperature Near Record for 2002: Takes Toll in Deadly Heat Waves, Withered Harvests, & Melting Ice» (12/11/02) «Rising Temperatures & Falling Water Tables Raising Food Prices» (8/21/02) «Water Deficits Growing in Many Countries» (8/6/02) «World Turning to Bicycle for Mobility and Exercise» (7/17/02) «New York: Garbage Capital of the World» (4/17/02) «Earth's Ice Melting Faster Than Projected» (3/12/02) «World's Rangelands Deteriorating Under Mounting Pressure» (2/5/02) «World Wind Generating Capacity Jumps 31 Percent in 2001» (1/8/02) «This Year May be Second Warmest on Record» (12/18/01) «World Grain Harvest Falling Short by 54 Million Tons: Water Shortages Contributing to Shortfall» (11/21/01) «Rising Sea Level Forcing Evacuation of Island Country» (11/15/01) «Worsening Water Shortages Threaten China's Food Security» (10/4/01) «Wind Power: The Missing Link in the Bush Energy Plan» (5/31/01) «Dust Bowl Threatening China's Future» (5/23/01) «Paving the Planet: Cars and Crops Competing for Land» (2/14/01) «Obesity Epidemic Threatens Health in Exercise - Deprived Societies» (12/19/00) «HIV Epidemic Restructuring Africa's Population» (10/31/00) «Fish Farming May Overtake Cattle Ranching As a Food Source» (10/3/00) «OPEC Has World Over a Barrel Again» (9/8/00) «Climate Change Has World Skating on Thin Ice» (8/29/00) «The Rise and Fall of the Global Climate Coalition» (7/25/00) «HIV Epidemic Undermining sub-Saharan Africa» (7/18/00) «Population Growth and Hydrological Poverty» (6/21/00) «U.S. Farmers Double Cropping Corn And Wind Energy» (6/7/00) «World Kicking the Cigarette Habit» (5/10/00) «Falling Water Tables in China» (5/2/00) Top of
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From Cigarettes» (2/18/04) «Troubling New Flows of Environmental Refugees» (1/28/04) «Wakeup Call on the Food Front» (12/16/03) «Coal: U.S. Promotes While Canada and Europe Move Beyond» (12/3/03) «World Facing Fourth Consecutive Grain Harvest Shortfall» (9/17/03) «Record Temperatures Shrinking World Grain Harvest» (8/27/03) «China Losing War with Advancing Deserts» (8/4/03) «Wind Power Set to Become World's Leading Energy Source» (6/25/03) «World Creating Food Bubble Economy Based on Unsustainable Use of Water» (3/13/03) «Global Temperature Near Record for 2002: Takes Toll in Deadly Heat Waves, Withered Harvests, & Melting Ice» (12/11/02) «Rising Temperatures & Falling Water Tables Raising Food Prices» (8/21/02) «Water Deficits Growing in Many Countries» (8/6/02) «World Turning to Bicycle for Mobility and Exercise» (7/17/02) «New York: Garbage Capital of the World» (4/17/02) «Earth's Ice Melting Faster Than Projected» (3/12/02) «World's Rangelands Deteriorating Under Mounting Pressure» (2/5/02) «World Wind Generating Capacity Jumps 31 Percent in 2001» (1/8/02) «This Year May be Second Warmest on Record» (12/18/01) «World Grain Harvest Falling Short by 54 Million Tons: Water Shortages Contributing to Shortfall» (11/21/01) «Rising Sea Level Forcing Evacuation of Island Country» (11/15/01) «Worsening Water Shortages Threaten China's Food Security» (10/4/01) «Wind Power: The Missing Link in the Bush Energy Plan» (5/31/01) «Dust Bowl Threatening China's Future» (5/23/01) «Paving the Planet: Cars and Crops Competing for Land» (2/14/01) «Obesity Epidemic Threatens Health in Exercise - Deprived Societies» (12/19/00) «HIV Epidemic Restructuring Africa's Population» (10/31/00) «Fish Farming May Overtake Cattle Ranching As a Food Source» (10/3/00) «OPEC Has World Over a Barrel Again» (9/8/00) «Climate Change Has World Skating on Thin Ice» (8/29/00) «The Rise and Fall of the Global Climate Coalition» (7/25/00) «HIV Epidemic Undermining sub-Saharan Africa» (7/18/00) «Population Growth and Hydrological Poverty» (6/21/00) «U.S. Farmers Double Cropping Corn And Wind Energy» (6/7/00) «World Kicking the Cigarette Habit» (5/10/00) «Falling Water Tables in China» (5/2/00) Top of
From Cigarettes» (2/18/04) «Troubling New Flows of Environmental Refugees» (1/28/04) «Wakeup Call on the Food Front» (12/16/03) «Coal: U.S. Promotes While Canada and Europe Move Beyond» (12/3/03) «World Facing Fourth Consecutive Grain Harvest Shortfall» (9/17/03) «Record Temperatures Shrinking World Grain Harvest» (8/27/03) «China Losing War with Advancing Deserts» (8/4/03) «Wind Power Set to Become World's Leading Energy Source» (6/25/03) «World Creating Food Bubble Economy Based on Unsustainable Use of Water» (3/13/03) «Global Temperature Near Record for 2002: Takes Toll in Deadly Heat Waves, Withered Harvests, & Melting Ice» (12/11/02) «Rising Temperatures & Falling Water Tables Raising Food Prices» (8/21/02) «Water Deficits Growing in Many Countries» (8/6/02) «World Turning to Bicycle for Mobility and Exercise» (7/17/02) «New York: Garbage Capital of the World» (4/17/02) «Earth's Ice Melting Faster Than Projected» (3/12/02) «World's Rangelands Deteriorating Under Mounting Pressure» (2/5/02) «World Wind Generating Capacity Jumps 31 Percent in 2001» (1/8/02) «This Year May be Second Warmest on Record» (12/18/01) «World Grain Harvest Falling Short by 54 Million Tons: Water Shortages Contributing to Shortfall» (11/21/01) «Rising Sea Level Forcing Evacuation of Island Country» (11/15/01) «Worsening Water Shortages Threaten China's Food Security» (10/4/01) «Wind Power: The Missing Link in the Bush Energy Plan» (5/31/01) «Dust Bowl Threatening China's Future» (5/23/01) «Paving the Planet: Cars and
Crops Competing for Land» (2/14/01) «Obesity Epidemic Threatens Health in Exercise - Deprived Societies» (12/19/00) «HIV Epidemic Restructuring Africa's Population» (10/31/00) «Fish Farming May Overtake Cattle Ranching As a Food Source» (10/3/00) «OPEC Has World Over a Barrel Again» (9/8/00) «Climate Change Has World Skating on Thin Ice» (8/29/00) «The Rise and Fall of the Global Climate Coalition» (7/25/00) «HIV Epidemic Undermining sub-Saharan Africa» (7/18/00) «Population Growth and Hydrological Poverty» (6/21/00) «U.S. Farmers Double
Cropping Corn And Wind Energy» (6/7/00) «World Kicking the Cigarette Habit» (5/10/00) «Falling Water Tables in China» (5/2/00) Top of page
Another critic argues that the studies fail to consider no - till cultivation of biofuel
crops, which actually increase soil carbon storage, and that corn ethanol plants are converting to renewable energy, thus decreasing their emissions - meanwhile they are competing against fossil fuels like oil
from tar sands that have an increased carbon footprint even compared to
conventional gasoline.
Deforestation a Much Larger Issue Than Fossil Fuels in Many Places And it would be even more poignant had he been speaking about production of palm oil in Indonesia and Malaysia, where due to greenhouse gas emissions associated with land conversion
from rainforest to plantations, the emissions
from the fuel made
from these
crops can be nearly 10 times as much as
from conventional fossil fuels.
A new case in Minnesota could be just the opposite scenario: Oluf and Debra Johnson say that pesticides
from surrounding
conventional farms have been wafting onto their 1500 - acre organic farm — damaging their
crop and impacting their profits.
This summer, a large meta - study published in the British Journal of Nutrition gathered together data
from hundreds of studies comparing
conventional and organic
crops.
(01/03/2008) Biofuels made
from world's dominant energy
crops — including corn, soy, and oil palm — may have worse environment impacts than
conventional fossil fuels, reports a study published in the journal Science.
In Cream of the
Crop, we looked at financial data
from organic and
conventional dairy farms in Vermont and Minnesota, two states with prominent organic dairy sectors.