b"Since the mid-1990s insecticide use on American farms hasits concerns to public health and the environment. Only strong fallen 61%-81% as the direct result of the introduction of GMOlobbying by Europe's organic industry has prevented copper sul-corn, soybeans and cotton engineered to express the naturalfate from being banned.bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)sprayed by organicCopper sulfate is also far more toxic than the herbicide farmersthat resist or kill some 200 harmful insects.glyphosate, whose use has set off paroxysms of hysteria across Since Bt cottons introduction in India in 2003, productionEurope. Glyphosate is less toxic than salt and has been found has grown more than 90%, with 23% of the yield increase attrib- safe by 18 major global health and environmental safety organ-uted to Bt seedsall while insecticide use has fallen. Bt cottonizations, including four in Europe.adoption also raised consumption expenditures, a commonAlthough glyphosate accounts for one quarter of herbicides measure of household living standard, by 18%. applied by weight to corn, it only accounts for one tenth of one Its impact in the developing world is transformative. Usingpercent of the chronic toxicity hazard associated with weed con-Bt technology developed by the Bangladesh government, brinjaltrol in corn. Taking glyphosate out of the picture could raise the (eggplant) farmers cut insecticide use by 26% while incurringtoxicity hazard in corn by 26%, 43% in soybeans and 45% in 52%98% lower pesticides cost per acre since the crops intro- cotton. Yet, green groups want to ban it.duction in 2013. Income per acre increased 6-fold. The sustainability contradictions of F2F multiply exponen-Dramatically cutting spraying by women farmers and theirtially when greenhouse gas emissions in farming, ignored by children, who do much of the field work in developing countries,the reports authors, are considered. Growing concerns about highlights the global move away from highly toxic pesticidesclimate changeand estimates that one third of greenhouse spurred by biotechnology research poised to accelerate withgasses come from agriculturehave helped ignite the market advances in gene editing, which could eliminate many chemi- for organic foods, which is perceived as reducing environmental cals altogetherif not blocked by protectionist policies like F2F. impacts.Scientists contest those claims. During organic farming composting, methane is emitted, a greenhouse gas 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Methane is also released by flatulent cows, blamed for generating nearly 20% of greenhouse gases, and they are the primary generator of organic waste used as fertilizer.Organic farmers rely on tillage while many conventional farmers have switched to no-till and ridge-till (reduced plowing of the soil), facilitated by the use of GMO crops. Tillage contrib-utes to soil erosion and the release of greenhouse gasses. No-till keeps the soil structure intact, protecting beneficial microorgan-isms, fungi and bacteria. It conserves water, limits erosion and reduces unnecessary labor to ride carbon-belching machinery so common in large scale organic farming. The use of no-tillage farming has grown sharply over the last two decades in step with the growth in GMO farming, accounting for more than 35% of U.S. cropland. Its adoption is stagnant in organic-obsessed Europe.One study estimates that low till farming using glyphosate in conjunction with GMO herbicide-resistant corn and soybean Copper sulfate, used in the European wine industry, to limit fungus onprevented 41 billion pounds of CO2 from being released into the grapes, kills beneficial insects and is a human carcinogen. atmosphere from 1996 to 2013. Purdue University researchers Source: StellaPhotography/Alamy found agricultural greenhouse gas emissions would increase 14% if there were a ban on GMOs in the countries using them. These ORGANIC SUSTAINABILITY MYTHS figures help explain why the US is so far ahead of Europe in toxic In contrast, organic farming is addicted to technology that ispesticide reduction.a century old or older, which is why it embraces the ideologi-cal belief that natural chemicals are safer than synthetic ones.EXPORTING ENVIRONMENTAL EXTERNALITIESAdvocacy groups base their fund raising on convincing consum- F2F proposes to more than triple organic farming implementa-ers they should be scared to death of the rampant use of syn- tion in 10 years. But the document is bereft of actionable, tox-thetic chemicals, although pesticide use has dropped in the U.S.icity-reducing specifics. What would happen if a countrysay since the 1980s even as yields have soared, and trace residues inthe UKfully embraced it? food have dropped to ridiculously tiny amounts discoverable onlyThats the question addressed in a state-of-the-art envi-by precision biosensors at the parts per billion level.ronmental life-cycle analysis published last year in Nature And there is the inconvenient fact that more than 99% ofCommunications comparing conventional and organic agri-pesticides in our food are produced naturally. Organic farm- culture and their impact on carbon emissions. Transitioning to ers use many approved synthetic chemicals and hundreds oforganic would pump 20%-70% more greenhouse gases into the natural chemicals, some highly carcinogenic. Consider copperatmosphere, the authors concluded. sulfate, used in the European wine industry, to limit fungus onAs the organic industry itself acknowledges, organic farm-grapes. It kills beneficial insects and is a human carcinogen. Theing is 15%- 40% less productive than conventional. Just to meet European Food Safety Authority authored a scathing report onthe current demand for food and make up this shortfall, the 16IEUROPEAN SEEDIEUROPEAN-SEED.COM"