Your recent article stating that Asda was committed to extending its organic range, ('Asda: our organics will be a shock to Waitrose', The Grocer, 23 September, p12) was further evidence that organics have at last become mainstream and shaken off their 'alternative' image.
The possible effect on health of chemical pesticide residues is, in my opinion, the overriding reason why a growing number of consumers are switching to organic food products. Food that has no additives, that has been grown in the way nature intended, without the intervention of man-made chemicals to produce ever-cheaper, bigger and blemish-free crops, is what consumers are looking for and for which they are prepared to pay a premium.
It has taken companies such as Grove Fresh more than ten years to spread the message and get organics accepted by the multiples and consumers. But, if the government gets its way, organic crops and livestock in this country will be wiped out in as many years. Ignoring fierce public opposition, the government is determined to introduce GM crops into British agriculture. Defra has published a consultation paper - 'Consultation on managing the coexistence of GM, conventional and organic crops'. The proposals it contains will have wide-ranging implications for farmers and food manufacturers, which are far too complex to set out in detail here.
However, one element of greatest concern is that food and drink could contain up to 0.9% of GM-contaminated ingredients and could still be allowed to be labelled as organic. This is a totally unacceptable, not to say ludicrous, proposal that, if ratified, would deny consumers the right to eat food that is guaranteed free of any artificial additives or GMOs. Just as you cannot be just a little bit pregnant, neither can you have degrees of organicness.
I urge every reader to visit the Soil Association's website to read the full contents of the consultation and to take action by writing to Defra and their MP to voice their concerns.
The possible effect on health of chemical pesticide residues is, in my opinion, the overriding reason why a growing number of consumers are switching to organic food products. Food that has no additives, that has been grown in the way nature intended, without the intervention of man-made chemicals to produce ever-cheaper, bigger and blemish-free crops, is what consumers are looking for and for which they are prepared to pay a premium.
It has taken companies such as Grove Fresh more than ten years to spread the message and get organics accepted by the multiples and consumers. But, if the government gets its way, organic crops and livestock in this country will be wiped out in as many years. Ignoring fierce public opposition, the government is determined to introduce GM crops into British agriculture. Defra has published a consultation paper - 'Consultation on managing the coexistence of GM, conventional and organic crops'. The proposals it contains will have wide-ranging implications for farmers and food manufacturers, which are far too complex to set out in detail here.
However, one element of greatest concern is that food and drink could contain up to 0.9% of GM-contaminated ingredients and could still be allowed to be labelled as organic. This is a totally unacceptable, not to say ludicrous, proposal that, if ratified, would deny consumers the right to eat food that is guaranteed free of any artificial additives or GMOs. Just as you cannot be just a little bit pregnant, neither can you have degrees of organicness.
I urge every reader to visit the Soil Association's website to read the full contents of the consultation and to take action by writing to Defra and their MP to voice their concerns.
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