EU Promotes Organic Food

The EU is being more bold and upfront with the promotion of organic food. Although The EU state that they are not recommending organic food over conventional food produce, they are encouraging the promotion of it. The promotion is particularly aimed at younger people in order to maintain a demand for organic food for the forthcoming decades.

Several promotional campaign slogans have been developed by the EU and made available for producers and distributors of organic foods to use. They are: "Organic farming. In nature we trust"; "Organic farming. In goodness we trust"; "Organic farming. The natural choice"; and "Organic products meet consumer demand for authentic, high quality and tasty food".

The European commissioner for agriculture and rural developments, Mariann Fischer Boel said: "Consumer demand for organic products is growing, offering business opportunities for all sectors of the food supply chain. In launching this campaign, I call on all stakeholders involved in organic farming to promote the organic idea."

The director of Organic Monitor, Amarjit Sahota, said: "Over the last few years, more and more research has shown that there are more vitamins and nutrients in organic food than in conventional food. And there is far more research coming out with this conclusion than vice versa."

A study recently published showed that organic produce is 25% more nutritious than the conventional kind. Other studies have led the UK government to say that organic farming methods consume 26% less energy than regular methods.

Not everyone is in agreement on the level of increased nutritional content however. Claire Williamson from the British Nutrition Foundation wrote "Organic farming represents a sustainable method of agriculture that avoids the use of artificial fertilisers and pesticides and makes use of crop rotation and good animal husbandry to control pests and diseases," however "From a nutritional perspective, there is currently not enough evidence to recommend organic foods over conventionally produced foods."