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Rising demand for organic food.

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Food scares lead to sustained organic growth http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=105 & ArticleID=1507130 Organic food was once the preserve of a small band of vegetarian environmentalists, but now it seems we're all jumping on the bandwagon. Grace Hammond reports. IN FOOD, just like fashion, trends come and go.After years of three square meals a day in the 1970s, a generation was born who would survive on little more than Angel Delight washed down by Soda Streams, quickly followed by the fast-food revolution and the age of the ready meal.But in recent years, we have been increasingly going back to basics, buying vegetables

from farmers' markets, supporting our local butcher and investing in smoothie makers and juicing machines. And if recent figures are anything to go by, this modern dabbling with fresh organic produce may be more than a passing fad.Last year, the UK's organic food industry grew by 12 per cent, to £1.23bn, accounting for two per cent of all food eaten, with the rise apparently down to a string of health scares, coupled with a growing awareness of just how our food is produced."Many people are after quality, and they want to feel assured that their food is being produced in such a way that they are assured of its quality, as well as important things such as biodiversity," says George Heathcote, one of the country's leading organic farmers, from Hampshire, who produces lamb and chicken as well as 400 varieties of vegetable, fruit, herbs and cut flowers."They're paying a lot of attention to animal welfare, and to whether their food is being produced in a traceable

way."Mr Heathcote, who converted his farm to organic 10 years ago to save his business, said he had responded to what consumers were demanding following health scares such as BSE."People were genuinely frightened about what they were feeding their families," he adds. "More and more people care about how their food is produced and they wonder where it comes from. We're more sophisticated as a food-buying public now we've had 10 years of food scares under our belts," he says.According to the Soil Association's campaigns director, Robin Maynard, increased organic production is a reaction to the consequences of decades of intensive farming following the Second World War."In the 1980s, all the pigeons came home to roost – degradation of the land, pollution of water courses, decline in birds, bugs and butterflies," he says. "Then we had the cycle of animal diseases such as mad cow disease, foot-and-mouth, salmonella and bird 'flu, which raised more and more

questions about how animals were being raised."And there were big questions about antibiotic use in pigs and poultry," he says.The emergence of genetically-modified products was also a key factor in making people think about where their food was coming from."That was like the tip of the iceberg of what industrial farming and food production was about," he adds.People have also become more aware of the environmental consequences of intensive food production, following the rise of environmentalism and campaigns by groups such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth."We've seen a resurgence and growth in organic farming, which has now reached a critical mass and is moving away from the niche market."Mr Maynard says one of the most sensitive consumer groups when it came to food was young mothers, leading to a massive shift towards organic ingredients in baby foods.Campaigns such as TV chef Jamie Oliver's drive to introduce healthy meals in schools,

and films and books such as Fast Food Nation and Super Size Me have also dramatically changed the way people think about what they eat.In response to this sea change in attitudes, supermarkets have expanded their organic ranges, while fast-food giant McDonald's now sells organic milk.A spokeswoman for Sainsbury's said their relaunched organic range, SO Organic, had been expanded to include products ranging from frozen vegetables to alcoholic drinks and chocolate brownies.The supermarket has seen 80 per cent growth in organic milk and now sells 40m litres a year, with estimates it will rise to 50m litres next year."What Sainsbury's has done is made it easier to go organic everyday," she said. "Prices have come down, the choice has become much wider, and store cupboard essentials have come into the range, as well as fresh produce."She also said that the supermarket's organic range was being made available in a greater number of stores."The

consumer is more savvy about the food they want, and it's about giving the consumer what they want," she said.As well as potential benefits for the environment and health, the growing popularity of organic farming is boosting the numbers of jobs for the rural economy in the UK.Organic farms employ, on average, 32 per cent more workers than conventional farms because they require more people and skills for producing a mixture of arable crops, meat and dairy, a report for the Soil Association, which licences organic farms, found.A Tesco spokeswoman says: "We believe there is a great opportunity for even more British farmers to benefit from the growth in organics."We are working hard with our suppliers and the wider industry to support farmers who want to convert, and to increase the availability of British organic products." 17 May 2006 "Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." - Aurobindo.

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