#14: Organic Farming Part Two

Two Degrees Show on January 23, 2007

Last week Craig Sams (Soil Association Chair and co-founder of Whole Earth Foods and Green & Blacks chocolate) told us how he thinks a worldwide transition to organic farming could help us reduce carbon in the atmosphere by half the amount that we need to in order to stabilise climate change. This week we speak to two independent experts to examine these claims:

• Peter Smith, Professor of Soils & Global Change, School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen; and lead author on the UN IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report chapter on agriculture’s role in climate change mitigation
• Phil Metcalfe – organics expert at ADAS who co-authored “Energy use in organic farming systems” (DEFRA, 2000)

At the end of the programme we make our own assessment of the evidence and issues. We would be interested to know if you agree or disagree.

• Climate Change and Organic Farming (Soil Association resources)
• Organic Farming and the Environment (DEFRA, 2003)
• Can Organic Farming Feed The World? (Colin Tudge, 2005)
• Jonathan Porritt “Hard To Swallow” (Guardian, 2006)
• The Global Benefits of Eating Less Meat (CIWF, 2004)
• Craig Sams’ Martin Radcliffe Lecture (2005)