Environmental Impacts & Perspectives

What have scientists determined in their research about the quality, nutritional characteristics and production practices used in organic agriculture? Below are summaries of peer-reviewed studies by international scientists and researchers considering environmental perspectives and impacts related to organic agriculture. Each link provides a summary of the study's background, methodology, findings and conclusions, and lists the full reference for further reading.

Agricultural systems rely on inputs from limited natural resources, and their outputs impact both the land and human health, on a spectrum that includes fruits, grains and meat, as well as pesticide residue, soil organic matter depletion and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Studies in this list consider how soil, water, nutrient-cycling or other ecological systems impact food production quality.

For ease of navigation, the links on this page can besorted by food group below.

Some of the studies on this page have ties to Animal Health and Consumer Perspectives.

  • Consumer Perspectives include the ethics of animal husbandry, as well as the impacts of production standards on meat quality and human health.
  • Animal Health issues include ethical, nutritional and environmental considerations of meat, poultry and dairy production.

Although these categories are not sublisted here, they may be found through the sidebar menu. Note that livestock feed varies among countries, and comparisons of organic and conventional systems in other countries may produce different results in the United States.

Note: Descriptions about the scientific findings and conclusions are those of the original author, and not this project. Typographic errors may be attributed to the original sources. Please contact this website to report broken or outdated source links.