An English noble in Britain’s House of Lords has stated that organic farming needs more land than modern methods in order to obtain the same crop harvests. According to the UK Guardian, Lord Krebs also stated that organic farming might be worse for the environment since organic farming requires more land and techniques. He instead suggested the use of biotechnological or genetically modified foods with herbicides to kill weeds are more effective and environmentally friendly. Krebs said because of the growth of Earth’s population demand for food would grow with it and GMO foods are better able to feed the populace than organically grown crops.

Lord Krebs does have a background in agriculture. From 2000 to 2005 he was the first chief executive of the UK’s Food Standards Agency and even then he had asserted that organically grown vegetables were anymore nutritious than crops cultivated using other methods (like bio-technology). Even as head of the Food Standards Agency, Krebs has stated that organically grown food does not give people better value for their money and their nutritional value is negligible. Krebs does, however, subscribe to human-induced global warming and stated that increased planetary warming and the bad weather that results will result in poorer conditions for farming down the line.

The organic lobby was disappointed to say the least. A spokesperson for an organic farming trade association, Helen Browning, pointed to a study in the Proceedings of the Royal Society stating that organic farming did not produce smaller crops yields than other methods. She also stated organic farming resulted in large amounts of carbon stored in soil as opposed to being in the atmosphere.

Between the two parties, it is Lord Krebs who is correct. The fact is organic farming not only uses more resources than current methods it is too expensive for people to buy. It is unrealistic if not outright impossible to feed people utilizing organic farming. Bio-technological foods were developed to help meet the demands not just of growing populations but also to ensure healthier and quicker means of being able to produce food. As a species humans have a moral right to bend nature in order to survive and modifying foods for consumption is a practice that has gone one for thousands of years. Using bio-technology is an extension of our knowledge to create and enhance our food supply and we are better off for it.