Lived at a farm that got some organic farming approvals; it depends on the country. And perhaps even your region. In my country, you can get certain approvals/certifications for organic farming, and the regulations for that is very strict. Things like "chemical" (synthetic) pesticides are forbidden outright, so are strong fertilizers etc. This has government oversight, so, there are randomized sampling and testing done on approved entities (farms, companies).

Sadly this often leads to higher costs and more land use. Like it or not, a lot of the things forbidden do lead to much higher yields etc. The end result is higher prices; organic (certified) products are quite expensive here.

[–] Nechesh@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Totally, organic is not the same as sustainable.

[–] whelmer@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Organic is very much ~~the same as~~ about sustainability. The degree to which a particular enterprise succeeds in living up to organic principles and to internationally recognized organic standards is a different question.

Organic standards are available to be read. Here is the Canadian standards. You'll notice that sustainability is very much the organizing principle.

Organic standards are not the be-all and end-all of sustainability, that is true.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 1 year ago

Plus, natural pesticides aren't necessarily better for things.