Soil Association Gives U.K. Failing Grade

0
fyi_greening2

LONDON — The U.K. has been deemed The Lazy Man of Europe in a report recently released by The Soil Association.

The report, presented by the association at a recent conference in Manchester, England, made critical observations about how far the U.K. lags other European countries in growing and investing in its organic food and farming sectors.

“The global production of organic food is set to grow substantially, with the organic market frequently cited as one of the most significant growth markets in the food industry,” begins the report. “This potential is demonstrated in Austria, Denmark, France, Germany and Switzerland where sales of organic food continued to grow in 2009 despite the recession. In the U.K., sales fell, although they are not recovering.”

The report’s author encourages the U.K. to recognize the organic industry as a sustainable and environmentally friendly sector that’s important to economic growth. It cites lack of political support as an ongoing problem for the industry, referring to Environment Secretary David Miliband’s statement that the health benefits of an organic diet were inconclusive and the diet is a “lifestyle choice.”

To read the report, click here.

 

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.