The appeal-to-nature fallacy: homeopathy and biodynamic agriculture in official EU regulations

• Autores: José Miguel Mulet Salort
• Localización: Mètode Science Studies Journal: Annual Review, ISSN 2174-3487, ISSN-e 2174-9221, Nº. 8, 2018 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Making Science. A multitude of perspectives), págs. 172-179
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • There is no scientific evidence to support the affirmation that organic food is more nutritious or that its production is more sustainable than traditional food. In addition, productivity is very low and, concomitantly, the price is higher. This article reviews the basics of EU regulations on organic food production and concludes that, for the most part, they mislead the consumer and are not science based. Most of them rely on concepts related to the appeal-to-nature fallacy, with the explicit presence of pseudosciences, such as homeopathy or biodynamic agriculture. On the other hand, interesting aspects such as the carbon footprint or local production are not present in the regulations, and technological improvements that could be useful for organic food production are excluded.