What is Organic Food?
Food and drink can only legally be labelled as organic if the farms and food manufacturers producing it have been thoroughly inspected annually and licensed by an independent organic certification company like the Soil Association.
Buying locally produced organic food puts money directly into the local econonmy and the food should be fresher because it has travelled a shorter distance.
Organic food can be more expensive because it reflects the true cost of organic production and the special care for the environment and animal welfare. It is more expensive to rotate crops and not use chemical which make food swell up with water. The higher price represents a fair price to the organic farmers and growers who produce food to these standards.
Organic Farmers produce good food from a balanced living soil. Strict European wide farming and processing standards define what they can and cannot do, placing strong emphasis on protecting the environment. Organic farmers use crop rotations to improve the fertility of the soil. They cannot grow GM crops and can only use as a last resort seven of the hundreds of pesticides available to farmers. Trees, hedges and wider unfarmed field edges are encouraged, providing habitats for natural insect preditors to control pests. Under organic standards all aspects of animal welfare are tightly controlled, including rearing, shelter, feeding & transportation.. There are lower stocking densities so animals have more room, and they are allowed to express their natural behaviour. Animal medicines must be used if they become ill, but cannot be used routinely in feed.
