Psychological and Physical Health of Organic and Conventional Farmers: A Review

Abstract

Farmers’ health compared to the general population has been the object of some studies and reviews. Among all factors implied in psychological and physical health, the farming system (i.e., organic or conventional farming) was identified as one of the relevant factors to investigate. This article aims to review the literature established on the comparison between organic and conventional farmers’ health and its correlates. Twenty-nine quantitative or qualitative articles were identified for inclusion (n = 29). Results showed that organic farmers had globally better psychological and physical health than conventional farmers. Effect sizes were small to large; they differed according to the target outcome. In addition, factors correlated with farmers’ health were usually psychological, social, financial, and agricultural. This review of literature encourages further research in this area, particularly on developing agricultural models.

Organic and Conventional Farmers’ Mental Health: A Preliminary Study on the Role of Social Psychological Mediators

“…These data were in line with the literature regarding anxiety [26,27] but lack support regarding life satisfaction [26,28], job satisfaction [21,29,30] and wellbeing [31]. In addition, the effect sizes observed correspond to average effects according to Cohen's classification [56], which was in line with what is usually observed in the literature [23]. With regard to the absence of differences in depression, these results were in line with those of Cross et al [24], Khan et al [22], and Nankongnab et al [33].…”

“…Thus, these data show several differences in the advantage of organic farmers on some dimensions and no difference on other dimensions. Moreover, no dimension showed a trend in favor of conventional farming, in line with the literature [23].…”

“…Organic farming and agroecology were more associated with life satisfaction [26,28], job satisfaction [21,29,30], job control [21], wellbeing [31], and some values [31,32]. While these differences have not been systematically observed, particularly with regard to depression [22,24,33], no data in the literature have suggested a disadvantage of organic farming and agroecology over conventional farming on mental health [23]. However, to our knowledge, no theoretical model to explain these differences has been tested.…”

“…With regard to farmers' mental health, a recent literature review showed that the observed differences were broadly in favor of organic farming and agroecology [23]. Thus, several studies reported that conventional farmers had a higher occurrence of depression [24,25], anxiety and stress [26,27], neurological symptoms [22].…”

Assessment of the Environmental Public Goods of the Organic Farming System: A Lithuanian Case Study

“…According to the results of research by Mie et al [18], eating organic food can reduce the risk of allergic diseases as well as overweight and obesity. French research results from David et al [19] showed that farmers working in the organic system have better mental and physical health than those working in the conventional system.…”