 | Sustainable Food Guide | Environmental Practice at Work © 2005  |  |
Issues | Organic Information... More than 22 million ha are farmed organically throughout the world. Australia accounts for approx. 10.5 million ha. The leaders in terms of the organic share of the total agricultural area are the European Alpine countries and Scandinavia. There are more hectares of organic farms in Italy than anywhere else in Europe. In 2001 in the EU, there were nearly 4.5 million hectares organic. However, this represents only 1% of farms and 2% of total land area in the EU devoted to organic crops. For more EU Organic Statistics. Organic food products sales in the UK are now over £1 billion each year. The organic market is growing 10% yr with three out of every four babies now fed with organic lines. The UK is now fifth largest area in the world under organic agricuture - about 4% total area, with 4000 farms farming over 1/2 billion hectares.
UK Government subsidies around £35 million are hoped to increase the market share supplied by UK producers. Home grown products now provide 62% of market - en route to government's target of 70%. Organic imports also require control to ensure that standards are maintained. For more see DEFRA Organic Imports Organic food production, unlike most food assurance schemes, is subject to statutory control. | ||||||||
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| Photos courtesy of http://www.usda.gov |