Is organic agriculture sustainable?

In practice, traditional organic agriculture remains production-only driven, still structured by a capitalist food system built for conventional agriculture. Perceived often as the result of small-scale farming, certified organic food as we buy it is mainly supplied by big co-operatives and giant farms. Farmers tend to replicate what is aspired to oppose to cope with an ever-increasing demand for organic food. For instance, to boost efficiency and economies of scale, major organic crops like almonds, corn, soybeans or coconuts come from monoculture environments, requiring refrigeration and transports. For Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, “a field of identical plants will be exquisitely vulnerable to insects, weeds, and disease. Monoculture is at the root of virtually every problem that bedevils the modern farmer". Organic monoculture farming carries a similar lack of biodiversity than conventional agriculture, which threatens the long term survival of crops. That is especially important for perennial crops relying on pollination to produce. Gathering insects need biodiversification to thrive, only achievable in agricultural fields through crops association and native plants.

Organic monoculture still requires large amounts of inputs to produce, made from natural ingredients instead of synthetics. Due to the lack of crop diversity and organic matters that soil needs to thrive, human-made fertilizers are required to boost the soil. The logic is similar to conventional agriculture. The heavy dependence on mechanized tools relying on petroleum, like tractors designed to vacuums undesirable insects, also remains the same as conventional agriculture.

The executive director of the Rodale Institute, Jeff Moyer, described how a farm could be certified organic without improving soil or human condition. Virgin soil paired with organic-approved input, coupled with minimum wage workers, although a questionable and short-term vision, would lead to the organic certification. In her study “Agrarian Dreams: The Paradox of Organic Farming in California", doctor Julie Guthman drew attention on how the certification deeply configured the way organic farming is practised today. To "emphasize economic viability and sustainable profit margins'' - to thrive in a capitalist economy, the certification minimized the earliest principles of organic farming, such as agroecology, diversity, equity or scale. The way organic certification is structured makes it even harder to switch from conventional to organic farming. It lost its original commitment to building an alternative and sustainable food system that could feed us all.

Biodiversity loss, the decline of crops diversity, erosion of soil, water contamination, scarcity; conventional agriculture massively contributes to the net amount of greenhouses disrupting our climate. Benefits of large scale organic farming are by no means to be discussed. Backed by farmers, studies clearly state organic agriculture has better balance production, environment, economics and social well-being. Yields of organic plots surpass conventional in the long term run, stop depleting soil health, demands less energy, reduce greenhouse gases. However, with only a dozen years to keep global warming under 1.5 degrees, production-driven, organic monoculture won't be enough to stabilize worldwide emissions and sustain the world. The questions become: Is there a way for our natural land to be restored, recover from massive ecological loss? Can these lands help reduce carbon emissions, yet still producing nutritious food?