The Economic Impacts of GM Contamination Incidents on the Organic Sector

This paper examines the economic impact of GM co-existence on the global organic sector to date through GM contamination of organic food and crops. A total of 15 GM contamination incidents in the organic sector are identified, occurring either from cross-pollination from GM crops being grown in the area or due to contamination in the post-harvest supply chain. The financial losses incurred by organic farmers and food companies due to GM contamination are considerable, through lost markets, lost sales, lower prices, negative publicity, withdrawal of organic certification and product recalls. It is important that co-existence regimes address all of these impacts, with the GM sector being held accountabl

The Comparative Energy Efficiency of Organic Farming

Organic farming is generally a more energy efficient system of food production. Comparative analyses of fifteen crop and livestock sectors indicate that UK organic farming uses around 26% less energy per tonne of output on average. The main energy saving is from the non-use of industrially produced inorganic nitrogen fertiliser. Organic farming is more energy efficient for wheat, most field vegetables, milk, red meat and pigs, but it is less efficient for poultry production