Is it the fact that organic is a rigid system part of the problem?
Patrick Holden, founder of The Sustainable Food Trust and the first person to supply Sainsbury’s with organic carrots, back in the 1980s, thinks it might be. “The problem with organic is that it’s a line-drawing exercise. It says above the line is good and below the line is bad and that’s not a very good message for farmers all over the world who know they’ve got to do something about their farms to address climate change. They look at organic and think it’s a niche market for rich people who can afford to pay more for food. ‘It’s not for mainstream farmers like me’.”
Because organic food does not allow the use of artificial fertilizers and pesticides, farmers may have to rely on more labour-intensive methods of weed control/pest control. More crops may be lost due to disease and pests, so the output is lower than conventional products. This results in a higher price. Traditionally, anyway.
The rising cost of living means that already organic isn’t the more expensive choice it once was. It has a margin that can absorb higher cost of living, because it represents the true cost of production and is not being subsidized to make it a loss leader.
Holden points to the fact that the price of fertilizer has just tripled. “Chemical farmers have to pay the true cost of farming. That’s going to narrow the gap.” He adds: “We’ve got used to so-called cheap foods. It’s not cheap if you cost in the damage to the environment and public health. There’s the price you pay now and the price we’re all paying later.”
The irony of the organic market growing because more people feel that sustainability is important is that there is a risk that demand will outstrip local supply. While land in conversion to organic has increased 12 per cent according to Defra and 18 per cent according to the Soil Association, that’s not enough, leading to the difficult conundrum: is the market growth going to be filled with imports?
Riverford Organic, the vegetable box scheme started in 1987 by Guy Singh-Watson (husband of Geetie) does source produce overseas but, for instance, doesn’t buy ginger from China any more, since it was found to be continually contaminated when tested.
Guy Singh-Watson says that on the whole, globally, organic is an incredibly well-organized and enforced system. “When you compare it to fair trade and rainforest alliances it’s just a million times better.” Still, imports even from Europe when consumers are hungry for local produce isn’t going to fly, even if it’s organic.
The Soil Association is hoping that the Government follows recommendations by Henry Dimbleby’s National Food Strategy Report, an independent review for the Government that recommended pockets left for nature, some for intensive farming and the majority being agro-ecological farming, “of which organic is the only certified able option,” says Clare McDermott, the Soil Association’s certification business development director.
Organic remains important to chef Skye Gyngell, whose restaurants Spring, in London, and at the luxury Heckfield Place hotel in Hampshire, are focused on top quality produce. She believes people are more interested in eating more seasonally and sustainably and restaurants are reacting to that. Much of what her team cooks comes from the Heckfield biodynamic farm. “It is at the heart of everything we do and defines what and how we cook. I always say that the work is 80 per cent done by the time it gets to us in the kitchen. You can taste the freshness of seasonally grown organic ingredients – it makes all the difference in the kitchen.”
If you’re wondering if the UK could go organic and produce enough food to feed us all, the answer – according to the experts – is yes, but with a “less but better” model. There would need to be less food waste and fewer chickens, which rely on additional feed that would be difficult to grow in the UK. The Sunday roast bird would return to being the once-a-month luxury it used to be.
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