A recent study by a UO researcher is getting international attention, with a video of Julius McGee, a doctoral student in the sociology department, featured on the U.K.-based The Daily Mail website.

In the video, produced by the UO, McGee says that data collected from 49 states for over a decade shows that large-scale organic farming operations are not reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“The certification of the USDA really serves as a way to help corporations enter into the organic market by watering down standards,” McGee says. “And so that’s the social problem that’s associated with organic farmland, not the actual idea itself. What we find is that the idea is watered down in order to allow organic to be in these conventional grocery stores as opposed to just being in farmers markets or part of CSAs (community-supported agriculture).”

McGee’s research, which was published in the June issue of the journal Agriculture and Human Values, suggests that organic farming needs direction to be sustainable.

Watch the full video on The Daily Mail online: "University of Oregon look at how 'green' organic farming is."