Organic agriculture has always walked a tricky line between the aspirations of a positive ecological movement and the real difficulties of trying to define what makes for good agricultural practices. Noticeably absent have been workers rights and energy use — and the organic rules surrounding animal agriculture are weak.

Now the limits of organic are being reached.

Your support powers solutions-focused climate reporting — keeping it free for everyone. All donations DOUBLED for a limited time. Give now in under 45 seconds.
Secure · Tax deductible · Takes 45 Seconds

Stories like this don’t tell themselves.

Make others like it possible. Your support powers solutions-focused climate reporting — keeping it free for everyone. Give now in under 45 seconds.
Secure · Tax deductible · Takes 45 Seconds

From this article on labeling organic fish, it looks like the government is poised to confer the label on organic farmed fish, but not wild fish species. Putting aside the very real problems with harvesting wild fish species, most environmentalists agree that farmed fish is ecologically worse — so we are going in the wrong direction.

What to do?

To support our nonprofit environmental journalism, please consider disabling your ad-blocker to allow ads on Grist. Here's How

I’m not sure. We need new metrics and new criteria. For the time being, it’s going to take a lot of investment to know the origins and ecological consequences of your food.