A Taste of Wellness for Savoury and Snacks
Givaudan
A key feature of Europe's drive towards sustainable agriculture is the push for organic farming, crystallised in the recent reform to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) said EU commissioner Franz Fischler this week. In the UK, farmers continue to bail out from the industry.
Speaking at a conference in Bulgaria this week, the farming commissioner stressed the position Europe's new participants would play in the organic drive.
"Next year's enlargement brings with it ten new countries that are well placed to develop their organic sectors and reap the benefits, and in a few months time, we will be finalising a European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming that should secure the future development of this important sector," he said.
How can we boost trade and consumption of organic products in the EU? How can we facilitate production and processing? How can we ensure traceability and organic authenticity and, linked to this, how can we support the co-existence of organic farming with either conventional methods or genetically modified agriculture? All these questions were addressed by the commissioner at the conference. And his response?
"Direct links between producers and markets need to be improved and consumer information campaigns could be stepped up," said Fischler, summing up a recent online survey carried out by the Commission in which 92 per cent of respondents believed that more information to consumers would increase interest in the products themselves.
"Support to organic farming should be enhanced, 93 per cent thought it was important to ensure that the CAP provides organic farming with the necessary support," he added.
"Research funding for organic farming should be boosted and inspection bodies and organic farming standards should be harmonised throughout the EU," he told listeners.
The leading crusader of CAP reform, and indeed the man behind the initial Commission proposals, Fischler showed his unbridled support for the organic slice of CAP reform.
"Organic agriculture epitomises the aims of the new CAP: it is environmentally beneficial, it considers quality production second nature, and sustainability is at its core," he said.
According to the Commissioner, Europe's producers are well placed to capitalise on certain rural development measures that have been either introduced or strengthened under CAP reform.
"They will be rewarded for quality, welfare and environmental standards that go beyond the norms of cross-compliance," he said. "I am convinced that we are now on the right track to securing a comprehensive strategy that will underpin the future development of organic farming in the EU."
Fischler's words may well be welcomed, or criticised, in Britain with the country reporting that a further wave of people had left the agricultural industry in 2003.
"The NFU today expressed its considerable concern at the continuing contraction in the country's farming industry, despite improvements in farm income and the fight by producers to stay in business," said the National Farmers Union this week.
Figures published by Defra show that 17,200 farmers and farm workers left the agricultural industry in England in the 12 months to June 2003. A breakdown of the figures shows that 5,900 full and part time farmers left the industry, 10,700 workers and 600 farm managers. The total job losses represent a fall of 4.6 per cent in the workforce.
NFU president Sir Ben Gill said: " These figures demonstrate just how incredibly tough it has been for the industry and that our future is still precarious."
The UK farming industry has been pared down in recent years as farmers have endeavoured to reduce costs. Today's figures bring the total job losses for the industry to more than 80,000 in England since 1996.