Organic food, a way out
Organic farming produces food that is priced two or three times higher than food without organic certification, but it is popular with consumers who see it as healthier.
This new - but essentially very traditional - agricultural technique excludes or strictly limits the use of manufactured fertilizers, pesticides, plant growth regulators and genetically modified organisms.
It relies instead on techniques such as crop rotation, biological pest control and "green manure" - a crop of, say, legumes and grass that is dug in to return nutrients to the soil or is cut and left on the surface as mulch. Organic foods are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents or chemical additives.
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