Organic Farming Around the World
Other
countries, including many in Europe, practice
organic farming much more than the United
States.
Great Britain especially
has jumped on the organic farming bandwagon.
The following is an article from www.cnn.com discussing the popularity
of organic produce in that country.
Organic Foods Are Booming in
Great Britain
Organic farming has become one of the fastest growing agricultural sectors in Britain,
where one in three shoppers has purchased organic foods. Despite high consumer prices,
the demand for organic produce and livestock has increased by 40 percent a
year. And the upward trend should continue, agricultural experts say, in large
part due to recent food safety scares stampeding across England
and the rest of Europe. Organic farmers relying on
natural processes and nutrients have higher costs than those using the chemical
insecticides and petrol-based fertilizers of conventional agriculture. But some
of the former are doing well financially, said a representative of the Soil
Association at an organic foods conference in London
last week. "The pioneering companies that developed the market (the
successful ones) are now making a lot of money," Patrick Holden said.
"We are now seeing the second tier of companies that are currently
marketing conventional foods realizing that they've got to get involved."
Some stores expect organic produce will make up 20 percent of all fruits and
vegetables sales in Britain
next year. Food retailers say they have been surprised to witness that young
adults will pay more for organics. At one supermarket, for example, 50 percent
of all baby food sales is organic. "Organic is such a strong brand. And
basically in the UK (United Kingdom) there has always been a premium on brands
and that is how the organics will go as well," said MD Foods' Laurent
Ponty. Prices will drop as farmers grow more organic produce, but never to the
level of non-organic produce, agribusiness representatives say. Organic
farmers, for their part, say a lack of long-term incentives prevents
conventional farmers from joining their ranks. The British government contends
its first priority for organics is making uniform safety standards. "If it
isn't properly regulated, if people do make false claims, if we find that the
market is undermined, it will be very damaging to consumer confidence in the
organic sector generally," said Elliot Morley, a UK government minister.
The challenge is considerable, particularly since Britain
already imports 70 percent of its organic food.
(http://cnn.com:80/FOOD/news/9911/08/organic.foods/index.html)
There is also a global group known as IFOAM, or International
Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements, whose main purpose is to
coordinate the network of the organic movement around the world. Here is a link to their official website.
http://www.ifoam.org/
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