OF&G :: The Blog

We’ll start here with an apology. Despite a good track record of keeping up the blogging on a relatively regular basis, it’s been a bit quiet around here for a week or two. Sorry about that. Without wanting to over-blow our own importance, the stats don’t lie and we know that we have a pretty robust and loyal readership (for some reason…).

So, it’s time to come clean. The reason you haven’t been bombarded with attempted witticisms and tomfoolery on these pages is not due to some horrendous finger-related injury to our fastest typist but because [imagine a drum roll here please]… we’re working on a spangly, new, whizzy, wonderful website for OF&G!

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Overalls. Not the most flattering of attire at the best of times, but they’re there to do a job and they are a mainstay of the farming world.

However one of our licensee’s was unfortunate enough today to have our Certification Manager, Steve Clarkson, walking behind him toting a camera-equipped smartphone when the elements conspired against him to create what could, perhaps, best be described as the ‘Sumo Farmer Effect’…

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John Pawsey, discussing his crops while leading the farm walk on his land during National Organic Cereals 2009

In a world where pretty much everything seems to happen online now, you would expect there to be a wealth of useful content on the practical aspects of organic farming.

Somewhere among all those celebrity tantrums on Twitter and videos of cute kittens doing funny things, there really is a wealth of helpful, real world information – but not for organic farming. Or at least there wasn’t until one man took it into his hands, literally, to document in video the day-to-day realities of being a British farmer.

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After an absence of a year, the (in)famous OF&G pumpkin carving competition has returned!

The idea was tentatively floated in the office last week and such was the enthusiasm in the response (from most quarters, anyway…) that we pressed on and, voila, here are the results!

This year's pumpkin carving efforts from the OF&G team

The pumpkins were organic, sourced from our licensee, Mark Lea, right here in sunny Shropshire.

As ever there seems to have been an upswell of creativity – in fact one or two of them even have some kind of ‘cuteness’ about them – or is that just me?

When we did this the first time, the entries were very kindly judged by our friends in the editorial team at Farmers Weekly. They did a marvellous job and we were very grateful. Of course judging is subjective and the grumbles have rumbled on from some of our non-winners from the first competition.

So, this time we’re going all democratic and opening it up to a public vote. We’re not sure how long it will stay open and the outcome is, frankly, anyone’s guess. That said, we probably won’t keep it open more than a couple of days because, given the competitiveness this generates, we wouldn’t rule out one of the entrants finding and engaging ace computer hackers just to be sure of the result…

While it’s still going on though, why not chuck your hat into the ring by visiting this page and having a vote: http://ofng.me/pumpkinpoll It takes but a second.

May the best gourd-like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae¹ win!

The audience at the opening of Selling Organic: Building Partnerships

This year’s Selling Organic conference held some real ‘wow’ moments.

Contrary to the doom and gloom you might have expected, we heard of rocketing turnovers, growing exports and successful expansion.

There were a string of upbeat presentations from people at the sharp end of the organic food sector who talked unfailingly of growth. Of course, we can’t say that is representative of organics as whole, but it was certainly true of our speakers’ businesses and maybe that’s why they are people who have been at the forefront of organic brands for many years now.

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The IFOAM EU Group, the European arm of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements, has sent a strong message to the European Commission on the co-existence of GM farming.

We believe this was something that needed saying clearly to the law-makers, and needs saying over and over again, if needs be. From our perspective it’s not a blinkered, anti-technology stance, but a hugely important matter that needs to be got right ASAP, before non-GM farming across the region is irreparably damaged by the spread of a technology that is proving not to work and which is not popular with the population in general.

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