Upon this title, Henry Miller, Biomedical scientist, FDA drug regulator and scholar at the Hoover Institution, argues mainly on the fact that pesticides residues issue is not a real issue and on the difficulties to implement an effective control of the organic chain, for regulatory reasons. That leads cheating.
There is nothing in the article about agronomy or environment.
About residues, his main argument is based on the work of Bruce Ames. 99.99% of pesticides we eat are natural made by plants to protect themselves.
For more details on the work of Bruce Ames read here, here and here on ForumPhyto. It’s in French but you may find “nine misconceptions about the causes of cancer” by Loïs Gold and Bruce Ames quite easily on the Internet.
About certification process, H Miller explains that there is a minimal testing, because of the cost, and because “organic farming is process-based, not product-based”.
So “organic agriculture is a “trust-based” or “faith-based” system. With every purchase, they are at risk of the moral hazard that an organic farmer will represent cheaper-to-produce non-organic products as the premium-priced organic product.” And you cannot avoid cheating.
Henry Miller concludes “Organic agriculture is an unscientific, heavily subsidized marketing gimmick that misleads and rips off consumers, both because of the nature of the regulations and cheating. The old saying that you get what you pay for doesn’t apply when you buy overpriced organic products.”