It also highlighted a common critique of organic farming : It 's already hard to feed billions of people , even without rules against spraying chemicals or swapping genes . World population outgrew ability of farmers to feed everyone in the early 20th century . Growers started using more pesticides , fertilizers . J.I . Rodale popularized organic farming in the 1960s and '70s . Comment:
World population outgrew ability of farmers to feed everyone in the early 20th century . Growers started using more pesticides , fertilizers . J.I . Rodale popularized organic farming in the 1960s and '70s . Comment: