7.8 million

As of 2001, the estimated total market value of organic products was estimated to be $ 20 billion. By 2002 this was $ 23 billion and by 2007 more than $ 46 billion according to Organic Monitor. In recent years both Europe and North America have experienced strong growth in organic farmland. However, this growth has occurred under different conditions. While the European Union has shifted agricultural subsidies to organic farmers due to environmental benefits, the United States has taken a free market approach. As a result, as of 2008, 4. 1 percent of the European Union’ s farmland was organically managed compared to just 0. 6 percent of United States farmland. The growth of organic farmland area in the EU was 21% from 2005 to 2008 reaching a total of 7. 8 million hectares. Statistics and Emerging Trends 2009 lists the countries which had the most hectares in 2007. The country with the most organic land is Australia, with more than 12 million hectares, followed by Argentina, Brasil and the US. In total 32. 2 million hectares were under organic management in 2007. For 1999, 11 million hectares of organically managed land are reported. In recent years organic agriculture has grown greatly. Considering this rapid growth, it is within the nature of organic farming to keep it from becoming a large scale industrial business. As to organic food, two studies have found that children fed organic diets experienced significantly lower pesticide exposure than children fed conventional diets. Although the researchers did not collect health outcome data in this study, they concluded "children whose diets consist of organic food items would have a lower probability of brain health risks". A 2007 study found that consumption of organic milk is associated with a decrease in risk for skin disease.