What explains the rise of organic farming?

Abstract

An increase in organic farming is thought to be attributed to the subsidization of organic farming (at least for western Europe). However, subsidies, while stimulating convertion to organic farming since the 1990s, were a result, not a cause, of the earlier growing interest in organics in the 1970s and 1980s. In the absence of thorough analysis several possibilities suggest themselves: organic activists were successful in promoting their views to the public, scientists and policy makers; as new concerns emerged regarding the environment, the situation of farm workers and small farmers worldwide, and food safety; over the decades, organic farming changed in ways that made it more appealing to a broader public, in contrast to its narrow circle of adherents in the early days.

Organic Farming as an Essential Tool of the Multifunctional Agriculture

“…They also blamed such "pseudoscientists" for causing panic among the public with regard to paying more for food [19] and also mentioned that the "organic myth" was counterproductive to human welfare, because it leads to a rejection of procedures that are needed for the production of nutritious food at "maximum efficiency" and was "eroding gains of decades of farming advancements". However, 7 years later, the journal of this same AAAS published a major research paper that found organic farms to be highly efficient and economically competitive when compared to conventional farming [7].…”

“…scientific and political arenas [2,3], as well as by consumers as a whole. Today, organic farming is a legitimate system due to its history and evolution of practices, and rules and regulations [4,5,6,7].…”

Historical development of organic production

“…Lockeretz (2007) states that in the absence of fundamental analysis one can only speculate, highlighting several possible answers: -Activists of organic movements were sufficiently successful in promoting their vision to public, researchers and creators of the macroeconomic environment;…”

“…When and where in human history does this vague idea of organic agriculture first come to mind? In practice, and in theory (Lockeretz, 2007), one often comes to an opinion that it began centuries ago, when first hunter-gatherers finished with a nomadic lifestyle and began establishing communities and practicing agriculture. However, producers in the distant past certainly did not have at their disposal modern means of chemization.…”

“…Lockeretz (2007) states that in a period of time, organic production was under attackof representatives of the profession and practice, with or without supporting evidence. Thus, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science -AAAS in 1974, a panel of scientists examined the "myth of organic production", calling this production "scientific nonsense" and blaming "pseudo-scientist" for alerting the public, forcing consumers to pay more money for their food.…”