Tag: Organic Farming

Imports of organic food products into the European Union are likely to increase sharply as demand outstrips domestic supply, a report published by the bloc's executive said on Friday (16 July).

The European Commission's investigation of organic agriculture provides an opportunity for long overdue critical scientific scrutiny, so that agricultural policies can be based on knowledge and not on ideology, writes Professor Anthony Trewavas of the Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Edinburgh in a May commentary.

There are no important advantages in terms of health and nutritional benefits gained from eating organic food when compared to food produced using conventional techniques, says the UK’s Food Standards Authority (FSA), with the recent publication of a scientific study.

An annual monitoring report found traces of pesticides in organic food products for the first time, challenging public perceptions that organic products are free of synthetic plant protection products.

As EU ministers for agriculture prepare to launch a debate on the future of the bloc's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) tomorrow, farmers' groups are calling the EU to adopt organic farming as its future model and to safeguard farming activities in mountainous regions.

Recent figures by Eurostat show organic farmers represented only a tiny share (2%) of the total number of EU-15 farmers in 2002 and that this proportion has remained unchanged since the turn of the century.

The Parliament is seeking to put rural development and sustainable agriculture at the centre of the EU's agriculture research efforts in order to fully exploit the innovative potential of this sector in Europe.

A study published by BirdLife International says the Common Agricultural Policy's support to intensive farming has caused a sample of common species to decrease by 30% on average.

Organic farming is more efficient, and organic farms have more fertile soil and a higher biodiversity, according to a new study by the Swiss Research Institute of Organic Agriculture.

A study of government data by the US Consumers Union found that pesticides residues, including from banned chemicals like DDT, are present in 23 percent of organic fruits and vegetables, and in nearly 75 percent of conventionally grown produce.

The European Environmental Bureau (EEB), the European Association of Consumers (AEC) and the Dutch Bureau of Food Trade (CBL) called on the EU to boost organic farming. They presented a study on how to increase organic food production in the EU to 10% by 2006, by reducing VAT and introducing levies on the use of pesticides and fertilizers.

British and German agriculture ministers want to work together to push through a greener future for farms following Agriculture Commissioner Fischler's challenge for more sustainable farming. At the one-day conference in London on 17 July, the ministers argued that radical reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP) was still possible. Mr Fischler had announced last week that reform was not possible until 2006.

In the last few years, organic farming has been increasingly in the spotlight due to the various food crises sprouting up around Europe. As a result of such crises as BSE and foot-and-mouth, modern agrochemicals and intensive farming methods have come under attack, leaving organic farming the next best alternative. Organic farming provides a more sustainable system of food production. However, unlike "true" sustainable farming techniques, organic farming is still dependent on fossil fuels for production, transport and processing.

European Greens and European Farmers Coordination present plans for new Common Agricultural Policy

Agriculture commissioner Fischler supports German calls for a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly agricultural policy