True cost accounting pilot reveals hidden impacts of food, people
This study study calculated the cost of water pollution, pesticide exposure, greenhouse gas emissions and soil erosion for several types of produce.
Organic fruit specialist Eosta, The Netherlands, accounting firm EY (formerly Ernst & Young), New York, and other partners revealed the first results of a groundbreaking pilot program that demonstrates how organic fruit production has a positive economic impact on agriculture, the environment and consumer health.
The results of the pioneering True Cost Accounting pilot program found significant hidden benefits to consumer and producer health of buying organic fruits, including apples, pineapples, tomatoes, pears, citrus and bananas, due to the negative impact of pesticide residues. In fact, in the case of organic apples, the benefit to consumer health was calculated at €0.14 per kilo compared with conventional apples. For pineapples, the positive deficit was estimated at €0.06 per kilo. Adding in previous true cost calculations for the hidden cost impact on soil, climate and water of organic vs conventional, organic apples retained a positive financial advantage of €0.20 per kilo compared with production that uses agrochemicals.