Organic methods, which rely on crop rotation, manure and compost in place of fertiliser, are far less intensive.
Over and over, chefs told us that ingredients from their local sources are farmed using organic methods, yet organic certification is cost-prohibitive for most of these small farms.
Many farmers are developing new regional products of a very high quality - and they are doing this while moving over to more sustainable and organic methods of production.
To be included, a study had to compare organic and conventional planting across similarly-sized areas, had to report on the sample size and error margins, and had to use organic methods that complied with the guidelines of certification organisations (such as the UK's Soil Association).
In an effort to stick to its locals-know-best philosophy, sometimes Spark even funds projects that it has misgivings about, like a potato cultivation effort in the northern Rwandan village of Nyabageni, where a group of 80 families wanted to use insecticides instead of organic farming methods (chemical insecticides are common in Rwanda, says Lesh).
So on the face of it, this latest analysis is a vote for conventional methods above organic.
For example, bananas are grown on different types of farms of varying sizes, using growing methods that range from organic to traditional.
The vexed question of whether organic farming offers significant benefits over conventional methods has been raging on for years.
Although Lord Haskins supported the idea of subsidies for environmentally-sensitive farming methods, he said a fully organic approach could never feed the world's population.
Like high-end winemakers, these producers obsess about methods, singing the virtues of organic gardening, hydroponics (soilless agriculture), even aeroponics (with nutrient misted on the plants).
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