OF&G :: The blog

The Food Standards Agency has announced emergency measures to deal with the threat of GM rice, known as ‘Bt63′, from China creeping into the UK.

A long list of rice and rice products coming into the country will have to be certified free of Bt63 GM contamination because it is an unauthorised GMO in the EU.

The FSA has notified local authorities who will be responsible for liaising with businesses in their respective areas that might be importing or selling contaminated products.

It’s good to see positive and decisive(ish) steps being taken, but from OF&Gs’ point of view, we fear this is just the tip of a pretty worrying iceberg. As more GM products are shipped around the world (and there are many of them now) it gets harder to avoid contamination of organic and non-GM products, no matter whether it’s accidental (or adventitious) contamination.

If this happens supplies of organic and non-GM products are going to be even thinner on the ground than they are now - putting even greater pressure on prices for animal feeds and milling grade cereals. Perhaps the Bt63 scenario will re-open the public’s eyes to the Frankenstein Foods debate…

…get your facts straight!

Opponents of organic love to trot out ‘facts’ that attempt to detract from the plain-as-the-nose-on-your-face realities or organic systems.

So when Robert Johnston decided to ‘explode’ the ‘five myths’ about organic food on The First Post website there was something of a stir created.

Fortunately a comprehensive rebuttal has now appeared on that same website courtesy of the Soil Association’s Robin Maynard. We’re posting this here because it’s a neat and fairly painless way to re-cap both sides of the argument ready for the next time you’re challenged in the pub!

OF&G Chief Exec, Richard Jacobs, talked to Radio Four’s Farming Today about the percentages of organic matter in pig and poultry rations plus the impact feed prices are having on producers.

If you’d like to listen you can download today’s programme from this link.

Richard’s piece begins just before the 4 minute mark.

Mainly a post “for the record” this. OF&G is delighted to be one of the newest members of The Composting Association. And just to prove it, here’s a pic of certification officer, Katie Owens, proudly displaying the certificate.

Composting is important to us in a number of ways, and not only because there are plenty of enthusiastic home composters among our ranks (we’ve been avidly discussing aerators today)!

More importantly, OF&G is now one of two organisations offering certification to the nationally recognised composting standards PAS 100 and the Quality Compost Protocol. We do this on behalf of The Composting Association.

You can find out more about the standards at TCA’s website but, in brief, the standards allow compost produced and certified to the guidelines to be classified as a product, rather than a waste. This definition is crucial because it controls how it can then be used and described. Certified compost is a beneficial product, so the creation and application of these standards are good for everyone and we’re delighted to be playing our part.

Even though our pedigree is in organic certification, our operation of composting certification is open to all composters and this is an important branching out of OF&G’s role which fits our environmental credentials nicely.

The first UK composting facility to achieve Quality Compost Protocol certification is an OF&G licensee.

Derbyshire-based Vital Earth has met the criteria of the protocol for the 15,000 tonnes of compost it produces each year, meaning that the compost can be treated as a product, rather than a waste material.

OF&G is one of two bodies providing certification for the PAS 100 quality standard and the Quality Compost Protocol, which we operate on behalf of The Composting Association.

Read more about Vital Earth here…

Today’s BBC Breakfast programme and News 24 seem to be dominated (this morning at least) by the debate on organic food and air miles. Not a simple debate by any means, but one with huge complexities and which raises many questions.

Should organic be about carbon footprints? Should it even be about ethical trade? Or should it simply refer to methods that focus on safeguarding and improving animal welfare and the environment?

We know anyone reading this is going to have a view on that, and probably a strong one, but organic systems are coming increasingly under the microscope and it’s a discussion that’s got to be had…

You can see our own Chief Exec, Richard, contributing to the story on the BBC today by clicking here.

Welfare standards have always been at the heart of organic systems, so it’s gratifying to see other areas of farming tightening up as well.

Of course this is not to say that welfare is only just becoming a concern in non-organic production; that would be unfair. But the announcement of new European rules to set enforceable minimum welfare standards for all poultry is a recognition of what the shopper expects today.

We shouldn’t forget though that organics still sets a very high benchmark and will no doubt continue to do so…