The latter only take into consideration certain outputs that can be measured in monetary terms, overlooking those outcomes that cannot be measured and valued by the market and,thus, considered “externalities”.If forms of capital that include clean air, clean water and jobs are valued as zero within a traditional accounting framework, a decision based on this information is unlikely to consider them important capital to be maintained. As such,traditional financial accounting does not provide accurate information to stakeholders,consumers, citizens or policy makers on their choices in relation to food production and consumption. Sustainability accounting, with its more holistic approach, could help to achieve a shift not only in production patterns but also in consumption habits and in a social awareness of the value of natural resources,all essential factors in the fight to reduce the environmental impact of food production.In this research we only consider GHG emissions and energy consumption.
We do not analyse other environmental impacts associated with industrial farming practices, such as water quality, loss of biodiversity and the negative impact on health, to name but a few. A further limitation is that we consider energy consumption and emission levels only as far as the end of crop production.We do not analyse subsequent stages, most notably that of transportation. To be able to identify further implications and draw additional inferences, we would need to perform similar analyses with larger samples, including farms from different countries, producing a range of different crops and over a longer time period so as to analyse the evolution of this relationship in the long term.Although the findings reported here refer specifically to rice crops, we believe that our results can be extended to other crops produced under similar conditions of industrial farming, where an increase in productivity is achieved by employing practices that do not contemplate the harm they inflict on the environment.Clearly, more research is needed on other agricultural crops. Likewise, it would be interesting in future research to include not only negative but also the positive externalities of paddy fields such as water filtering and the substitution of wetlands.
Most consumers in developed countries are convinced about the higher quality of organically grown fruits and vegetables. It is generally believed that organic food is healthier than the one produced in a conventional way. This perception emerged from the general opinion that organic food was more nutritious, had more vitamins and did not contain pesticide and fertilizer residues. It is often true that there are many advantages of organic food which is clearly presented in the review article based on a meta-analysis performed by Barański and coworkers. Many studies demonstrated that organic crops do not contain pesticide residues or have an insignificant amount of them. It is also shown that fruits and vegetables produced organically usually have more vitamin C andβ-carotene. Furthermore, several studies report that organic food has a better flavor and higher organoleptic qualities. However, there is still a lack of conclusive data that can confirm the superiority of organic crops over conventional ones in the context of nutritional values. Are organic vegetables really more nutritious and do they have a higher level of macro and micro elements?
Some authors reported that vegetables grown in an organic way did not differ in the concentration of nutrients or the difference was insignificant.Moreover, some authors suggest that the organic crops might be the source of the microbiological contamination due to the use of organic fertilizers which are commonly applied in this farming system .Although the subject of organic vs. conventional farming has been present in the public debates for a long time, it is still raising many controversies, particularly among consumers who demand the right to know the quality of food products. However, there is still a lack of consistent and unambiguous studies that can confirm the superiority of one growing system over another. Taking into account that the final chemical composition of the crop is strongly influenced by external factors such as physicochemical properties of the soil, climate conditions,plant varieties, and type of applied fertilizers, it makes it extremely difficult to compare the data from different studies. In order to clearly demonstrate the differences in the quality of agricultural products of both types of farming systems detailed, ideally, long-term and very reliable research is required.The main goal of this study is to evaluate the differences in the concentration of major macro nutrients such as Ca, Mg, N, Na, K, and P in the commonly consumed vegetables grown in organic and conventional ways. Additionally, the concentration of macro elements was assessed in the soils of both growing systems.