Growing Green: Benefits of Composting and Organic Foods

Cost Differences

• In the United States, it has been calculated that the total environmental and public health costs of pesticide use alone are about $3 billion to $4 billion a year - equivalent to almost $1 in external costs for every $1 of pesticide sold in the country. Globally, pesticide external costs are estimated to be as high as (US) $100 billion to $200 billion a year, equivalent to $5 to $10 for every $1 of pesticides sold.
• The off-site costs of soil erosion in the U.S. have been estimated at up to $20 billion a year, with more than one-third of this blamed on agriculture. U.S. cropland loses at least 3 billion tons of topsoil every year, making agriculture the single largest non-point polluter.
• Organic farming saves energy. Conventional farming uses more petroleum than any other single industry; consuming 12 percent of the country’s energy supply.
• Foods grown with conventional pesticides and fertilizers have a high environmental price hidden in the tax dollars used to clean up water contamination. As part of building healthy soil, organic agriculture uses conservation practices, such as planting cover crops or including buffer zones and wildlife areas. Those costs are an investment in the future.

Land

• Buying organic supports small farms – most organic farms are small, independently owned and operated. In the past decade the United States has lost 650,000 family farms due to the large scale conventional farms that are taking over. Organic farming is making it possible for the family farm to survive.
• Organic farms support substantially higher levels of wildlife in lowland areas, particularly wildlife groups on the decline.
• The global organic food market was about $36.7 billion in 2006 according to Datamonitor. Over 30 percent of the global organic demand stems from the U.S., which has a market of about $13.6 billion, according to Nutrition Business Journal.
• Popular organic food items include organic tea, organic coffee, organic wine, organic meat, organic beef, organic milk, organic honey, organic vegetables, organic fruits, organic rice, organic corn, organic herbs, organic essential oils, organic coconut oil and organic olive oil.

Sources: United States Environmental Protection Agency, Down to Earth, www.organicfacts.net