Many shades of gray—The context-dependent performance of organic agriculture

Comparing the yields of organic and conventional agriculture.

What is this thing called organic? – How organic farming is codified in regulations

Urban agriculture: a global analysis of the space constraint to meet urban vegetable demand

Organic Agriculture as an Opportunity for Sustainable Agricultural Development

Land management: data availability and process understanding for global change studies

Feeding the world requires both organic and conventional farming_3128424 copy.mp3

Verena Seufert is an environmental scientist specializing in agriculture and food topics. She received her PhD degree from the Department of Geography at McGill University, and is currently working as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES) and the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Columbia (UBC).

Verena’s research focuses on the question of how to do food better: How can we create a world where everyone has sufficient and nutritious food they enjoy eating? How can we produce our food without destroying the very natural resources that food production depends on? How can we create a food system that is more just and more sustainable?

There are many purported answers to the question of how to do food better. Paleo! Organic! GMO! Vegan! Local! Global! But what do we actually know about these supposed solutions? Debates around these issues are often very passionate, but typically not sufficiently informed by good science. A particular focus of Verena’s work has been to assess these debates as objectively as possible, using rigorous scientific tools, to help us make sense of different claims, and in the end to allow us grow and eat food in a better way.

Verena has puplished her research in internationally renown journals (including, for example, Nature and Science Advances), she has given many invited talks (including keynotes) at international conferences, and her research has appeared in numerous print, online, radio and TV media outlets.

Sustainability

organic agriculture

Sustainable Agriculture

Biodiversity

Climate Change

Land use

Food Security 

Farmer livelihoods

Ecosystem services

English

German

Italian

Spanish

French

Personal webpage

Institutional webpage

Google Scholar Profile

Organic farming matters – just not in the way you think

Verena Seufert: Harnessing Organic Agriculture

Sarah Elton - Consumed: Food for a Finite Planet

There’s nothing black or white about organic agriculture

Feeding the world requires both organic and conventional farming

Will Organic Food Fail to Feed the World?

The War Between Organic and Conventional Farming Misses the Point

Bio für die Welt?

Quand l'agriculture biologique est aussi productive que l'agriculture traditionnelle

Une étude vante l'agriculture mixte

Is The New Whole Foods Label Better Than 'Organic'?

UBC research Verena Seufert on organic foods

Study finds organic farming needs to stick to its roots

Organic food ‘not automatically better,’ study finds

Organic farming doesn't always deliver benefits, UBC study says

Organic growth good for small farm survival: UBC study

Organic farming isn’t the ‘holy grail’ of sustainable agriculture, study finds

Organic agriculture no panacea: study

Organic farming matters - just not in the way you think

Sorry Gwyneth: Organic food may be good for your health but it will not save the environment

COTA - Understanding the complexities of organic agriculture is key to improving it

Many People Choose Organic Thinking It’s Better For Humans And The Planet, But A New UBC Study Finds That Might Not Always Be The Case

Dr Verena Seufert - Organic food myths

Why Organic Food May Not Be The Holy Grail of Sustainable Farming

Evenings with Kirk La Pointe - Seufert Verena

Postdoctoral Fellow

UBC post-doctoral fellow Verena Seufert joins The Agenda to discuss her idea that people need to move past the emotion surrounding the organic food debate and focus on the advantages and limitations of the agricultural practice.

Feb 10 2015 Verena Seufert

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