Entirely organic farming could raise food emissions by 70 per cent in England and Wales

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. They found that, over the full life cycle, some organic crops such as beans, potato, oats and spring barley produce higher greenhouse gas emissions per ton than on conventional farms, while others such as oilseed rape, rye, winter barley and wheat were more efficient under organic production. So, in order to achieve its new target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, perhaps the UK should promote organic production of selected foods? However, in a novel twist, Smith and colleagues suggest that, if all the people in England and Wales switched to buying organic food, they could not grow enough to feed even their own countries. Under medium land-use conversion scenarios, this could lead to 70 per cent more greenhouse gas emissions from people all eating organic food compared to conventional products.