Many people -- from consumers and farmers to scientists and international organizations -- believe that organic agriculture can produce enough nutritious food to feed the world without destroying the environment, while being more resilient to climate change and improving the livelihoods of farmers.

We discovered that organic farming does matter -- just not in the way most people think.

Compared to a neighboring conventional farm, an organic farm at first appears to be better for the environment. But that's not the whole story. Here's how it breaks down.

What's good: Organic farms provide higher biodiversity, hosting more bees, birds and butterflies. They also have higher soil and water quality and emit fewer greenhouse gases.

The jury's still out on whether the consumer is better off, too.

What's good: For consumers in countries with weak pesticide regulations, like India, organic food reduces pesticide exposure. Organic ingredients also most likely have slightly higher levels of some vitamins and secondary metabolites.

Organic methods bring certain benefits for farmers, some costs and many unknowns.

What's not-so-good: We still don't know whether organic farms pay higher wages or offer better working conditions than conventional farms. Organic farm workers are most likely exploited in similar ways as those tilling the fields on conventional farms.

In short, we cannot determine yet whether organic agriculture could feed the world and reduce the environmental footprint of agriculture while providing decent jobs and giving consumers affordable, nutritious food.

It's a lot to ask of one industry, and there are still just too many unanswered questions. Some of these questions relate to agriculture, such as whether organic farms can eventually close the yield gap with conventional farms and whether there are enough organic fertilizers to produce all the world's food organically.

But some questions are also about humanity's collective future. Can people in the rich world learn to change our diet and reduce food waste to avoid having to increase food production as the global population grows? And are enough people willing to work in agriculture to meet the needs of labor-intensive organic farms?

A more useful question is whether we should continue to eat organic food and expand investment in organic farming. Here the answer is a definitive yes.

Organic agriculture shows significant promises in many areas. We would be foolish not to consider it an important tool in developing more sustainable global agriculture.

So yes, you should identify and support those organic farms that are doing a great job of producing environmentally friendly, economically viable, and socially just food. Conscientious consumers can also push to improve organic farming where it is not doing so well -- for example on yields and worker rights.

As scientists, we must close some of the critical knowledge gaps about this farming system to better understand its achievements and help address its challenges.

But in the meantime, everyone can learn from successful organic farms and help improve the other 99% of agriculture that's feeding the world today.

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Organic farming matters - just not in the way you think - CNN.com - CNN