To say there have been ‘reservations’ regarding the EU competition to design a new Europe-wide, compulsory organic logo might be an understatement.
We’ve expressed our own disappointment with the candidates we’re being asked to vote on*, but now there’s even some criticism from one of the judges who were asked to pick the final contenders; none other than the widely respected Craig Sams, founder of Green & Black’s (among many other successful organic brands), in fact.
Natural Products magazine reports on a letter Mr Sams has written to a German magazine outlining his concerns over the process, which he describes as “aspirational in the extreme” for its approach of only opening the competition to design students.
Craig Sams know a thing or three about branding and spoke on the subject at our Selling Organics: What’s the Story? conference in London, in October. It really is a shame that this process has to be mired in controversy when the sector has enough challenges to face without yet more bureaucratic mishandling to contend with.
And on the subject of voting for a logo, we have some other misgivings about how it’s being done. But more on that soon…
* Reference to our ‘disappointment’ is made with due respect to the so far anonymous designers whose entries made it to the shortlist of three. They’ve done very well to make it this far and have demonstrated great creativity, but it’s not their fault that what was really needed was a researched, tested and professional identifier that has to sit alongside some very expensive and carefully considered branding.
Last night was a big one for licensee, Jess Vaughan, who featured prominently in BBC2’s Hairy Bikers’ Twelve Days of Christmas.
Jess (left) and her friend sing to the nation!
The well-known two wheeled cooks whipped up what they described as one of their best ever dishes on a makeshift kitchen in one of Jess’s Gloucestershire fields.
And why were they there? “It’s the only place to go for cream. It’s the best there is, man.” A ringing endorsement indeed!
The pair went on to praise the quality of the cream from Jess’s Ladies numerous times and credited it with making their Christmassy Panacotta the special dish they profess it to be.
Jess explains what makes her milk and cream so good and gets to try out the finished food – not to mention indulging in a spot of festive singing… Very brave on national telly, but nicely done!
Jess told us the rather large film crew spent a whole day on the farm and that she loved the experience.
You can take a look for yourself on the BBC iPlayer (until they remove it). Jess’s part starts at 39′58″, if you don’t want to watch all of it…
Obviously, the headline refers to a ‘pee bale’. What else?
Staff at the National Trust Wimpole Estate attracted quite some attention recently with the story of their open-air, non-flushing, recyclable, compostable, loo-with-a-view.
In an enlightened move, the gardeners at the stunning Wimpole Hall, in Royston, Cambridgeshire, (the associated Wimpole Home Farm is converting to organic with OF&G) have installed their bales against a spare wall and the men use it in preference to the more traditional water closet.
This has a number of benefits, not least saving many unnecessary toilet flushes and it gives a marvellous natural boost to the compost that it is eventually added to. I imagine it also removes the need for a walk to wherever the toilets are, so you could say it also results in saved man-hours.
That’s not a sexist turn of phrase, by the way; bale relief is limited to the men because apparently their urine is less acidic (plus other fairly obvious practical reasons, one would imagine).
They certainly got plenty of attention for their new habit, with not only a lighthearted piece by the local BBC TV news, but an interview on Radio Four’s Today programme, no less. Links to both are here.
Though it crossed my mind, it’s far from clear that the ladies would stand for a similar arrangement being enacted here at the Old Estate Yard…
Sometimes you’re just left scratching your head.
Here’s a simple scenario: BBC One’s Countryfile does a piece looking at the state of the market for organic food. Fair enough.
In it they talk to people involved in organic food and get a rather perceptive take from a marketer on how the sector could be pushing itself (putting aside, for a moment, the fierce and constant opposition from the ASA and FSA to even the most innocuous claim made by organics).
You wouldn’t think there was anything more controversial than normal in any of that. But no. Wait a moment. Who’s this galloping over the horizon waving a red biro and a flag saying “I’m a licence payer too!”? Aha, tis the Crop Protection Association, which, according to Farmers Guardian, has complained to the BBC Trust because the programme didn’t include any representatives of non-organic food and farming…………………………………….
Can you hear that? It’s the sound of a gentle wind blowing tumble weed down the street as everyone stands still and tries to figure out what on earth the CPA people can have been thinking.
It seems the best they can come up with is that Countryfile was ‘favourable’ to organic farming while portraying non-organic farming ‘neutrally’. Yes, well, that would be neutral as in not part of the report in the first place.
Honestly, that fact that word had gone around the organic community that a piece was going to be on Countryfile should be an indicator that it’s still rare enough to be noteworthy, so why the CPA’s Dominic Dyer is so rattled about non-organic farming not being part of the report is baffling.
At OF&G we have every respect for all UK farmers, which is probably why we WON’T be writing to the chairman of the BBC Trust demanding that organic farming is mentioned every time there is a report on non-organic farming on the BBC. Can’t say fairer than that.
Here are some of today’s more interesting and useful news and opinion pieces we’ve been looking at:
- Saudia Arabia is in the process of setting up an organic farming structure and, judging by this piece, they’re going about it in all the right ways.
- The Evening Standard’s Jonathan Prynn notes Liz Hurley’s emphatic comments about the FSA report on organic food (of earlier this year) as she launched her own organic snack range.
- Farmers Weekly highlights the message from Natural England that environmental farming schemes must continue to be supported as the current arrangements approach the end of their life.
It’s with great pleasure that we can reveal the OF&G Pumpkin Caper has been elevated to new levels with the involvement of expert independent judges.
Well, I say ‘expert’, by which I mean Caroline Stocks, deputy news editor of Farmers Weekly, and Isabel Davies, Farmers Weekly community editor. Caroline is, according to Isabel, a “demon” pumpkin carver in her own right, while Isabel obviously knows a thing or two because she is the main pumpkin supplier to the FW team, via her mum. So that must make them experts, right?
Whatever, they are no doubt discerning judges of a good vegetable-based carving and we are privileged that they have agreed to help us out in this crucially important matter.
The standards are high though. Isabel insists they will be looking for “innovation as well as artistic flair”. So no pressure then.
The entries are trickling in so far, but given that the deadline is the end of play tomorrow, we expect a veritable rush of another five or so by then. At which point they will be photographed with suitable t-light illumination and sent off to our esteemed judges for a decision. Don’t hold your breath though. It’s vital the judges are not hurried in their deliberations, so we’ll just have to wait on tenterhooks until they decide to put the entrants out of their misery.
Ooh, gripping.
Time again to share some of the interesting/amusing/ridiculous things we’ve been reading today.
Still, we should probably cut the Daily Express some slack. It must be a nice change for them not to be focusing on house prices, immigrants or Princess Diana……..
A few articles have popped up in recent days that caught our attention here and are, for varying reasons, worthy of a look, so we thought we’d share them with you. You never know, it might even become a semi-regular thing – this is a blog after all!
Seen something you think we should read? Add them to the comments for all to see.
Human Interest
