Features
Organic Stagnation
Jason Horner makes his living growing organic fruit and vegetables in Co Clare. A well known figure on the Ennis market, in recent years he has become disillusioned about the organic movement. "The history of the organic sector is a case of missed opportunities," says Jason. "The home market for organic fruit and vegetables is increasing dramatically but the demand is being filled by imports. There has been no serious attempt to set up an indigenous organic horticultural industry." There is a lot more coverage of organic agriculture in the media today than there was ten years ago. But Jason says that the organic bodies are not being proactive enough in engaging with the media. "We need to set the agenda with the media," he says. "Take the IOFGA website for example. The latest press statement on it is nearly a year old."
Much of the attention paid by government departments and agencies is in the form of the commissioning of expensive reports about the organic sector. Many of the reports are repetitive and tens of thousands are spent gathering and re-gathering information that organic producers and their associations already have. So far none of these reports have been acted upon and they seem to merely lead to even more rounds of reports and committees. Jason sees these reports as a waste of valuable resources. "There are far too many reports," he says. "I've just filled in the form for the Department census. But whatever happened to the report of the Western Development Commission? It's three years since that came out. There's been another report since by the Organic Development Committee. Does anyone ever read these reports? When are any of them ever going to be acted upon?"
One of first the farmers in the country to go organic, Richard Auler, says that at least one of the difficulties in the organic sector is that of getting a fair return for organic produce. Organic for twenty years now, the Tipperary farmer observes that the price of organic beef paid to the farmer has fallen, yet this drop has not been passed on to the consumer. He says that the profit margins that exist beyond the farm gate need to be examined. According to Richard, another barrier to growth is the existence of three different Irish organic symbols. "I'd like to see one Irish organic symbol," says Richard. "We cannot continue to confuse the consumer any more - consumers simply don't have the time to become familiar with several different labels. One symbol would make marketing easier."
On the issue of what exactly constitutes an organic farm, Richard is aware that there have been compromises made with the organic standards over the years. "Compromises have had to be made," he says. "But I think now we have reached a critical point and we need to be careful not to allow the standards to be watered down any more." One compromise he feels strongly about is that of allowing organic livestock to eat conventional grain. "It's just not on that we allow such high percentages of non-organic feedstuffs," says Richard. "That made sense in the past when there was very little organic feed around. But the situation has greatly improved now and there should be no excuses any more."
Kerry farmer Willie Spring also believes there should be one organic symbol and he would like to see Ireland's three organic bodies work much more closely together. "As long as the associations are divided, the powers that be don't have to worry about them," says Willie. "They always have an excuse for not going out of their way to assist them." Willie cites a lack of marketing of organic produce, coupled with uneven distribution, as obstacles to the growth of the sector. "There isn't a single euro being spent on marketing," he says. "Nobody seems to know about us. There need to be funds made available for marketing. The organic bodies have enough to do with maintaining standards and traceability and policing the system."
Lack of a proper national distribution system for organic produce means that while some beef farmers can find no market for their beef, there are also many consumers who want to buy organic meat but can't, as it's not on sale where they live. "We have a few butchers' shops in Dublin but in many Irish cities such as Waterford or Galway for example there are no organic butchers," says Willie. Willie says that the small number of farmers going organic has much to do with the fact that young farmers are not being introduced to the potential of organic farming. 'There are many agricultural courses being run around the country by Teagasc where there is no mention of organic farming at all," says Willie. 'There are courses where you are given information on every enterprise - even on how to export foliage to Holland - yet there is no information on organic farming. A few years ago Teagasc were given six millions for organic farming. I'd like to see that money being spent where it is needed."
Producers of organic food are well able to document the needs of the underdeveloped Irish organic sector and the strategies required to increase the numbers of organic food producers. All that's missing is willingness on the part of relevant agencies to listen.
Gillian Westbrook has been appointed to the new position of
General Manager with IOFGA. Coming from a background in the regulatory area...
