We're not blurring our principles on organic food
UK - Usually, the Soil Association is criticised for setting unrealistically high standards for organic farming and food. So it was a surprise to read the Guardian's leader column alleging that we were "diluting standards to keep in with the supermarkets" (Organic food row: Green gauges, October 7).
17 October 2006
1 minute read
We can join with the Guardian in celebrating the growth of public support for organic food and farming, and also agree that "much of what we eat is still produced at too high a cost in order to be sold at too low a price". We don't dispute that the organic sector faces unhelpful moves from some supermarkets - pushing sales by offering customers organic food as "cheaply" as possible, and potentially forcing organic farmers on to the same treadmill as their non-organic counterparts. Our food culture needs changing so that "cheap" generally means "nasty", and definitely inferior, as with any other product. Good quality organic food is within everyone's price range if people eat a diet based on unprocessed, seasonal and local food with less (but better-quality) meat.
Source: guardian.co.uk
