Organic Agriculture and the Global Food Supply

Organic agriculture and the global food supply Catherine Badgley1 , Jeremy Moghtader2,3 , Eileen Quintero2 , Emily Zakem4 , M. Jahi Chappell5 , Katia Avile´s-Va´zquez2 , Andrea Samulon2 and Ivette Perfecto2, * 1 Museum of Palaeontology, University of... More

Organic agriculture and the global food supply Catherine Badgley1 , Jeremy Moghtader2,3 , Eileen Quintero2 , Emily Zakem4 , M. Jahi Chappell5 , Katia Avile´s-Va´zquez2 , Andrea Samulon2 and Ivette Perfecto2, * 1 Museum of Palaeontology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. 2 School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA. 3 Department of Horticulture, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. 4 School of Art and Design, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. 5 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. *Corresponding author: perfecto@umich. edu Accepted 9 June 2006 Research Paper Abstract The principal objections to the proposition that organic agriculture can contribute significantly to the global food supply are low yields and insufficient quantities of organically acceptable fertilizers. We evaluated the universality of both claims. For the Less