A former Associate Dean for Research at the University of Guelph suggests the growing demand for organic or natural food products is going to have an impact on prices and productivity.
Terry Daynard says more consumers want to buy - and are paying higher prices for - organic or natural foods.
But he points out government surveys show organic crop yields average 30 to 40 per cent lower than for non-organic.
Those same surveys show those crops cost more to produce and the price premiums for them are high.
Daynard says farmers would also need more land to produce the same amount of food.
Besides lower productivity and higher prices, he believes the trend may mean greater imports from countries where low-tech, laxer safety standards and cheap labour prevail.
According to Daynard, half the organic soybeans now used in North America come from India and China.
Daynard argues the push for organic or natural foods - combined with a growing tendency for governments to restrict the technologies farmers can use - will inevitably lead to more food price increases in the years ahead.
His comments were part of a column he wrote for Troy Media.
