OF&G :: The Blog

Apologies for being a bit quiet on here this week. Too much to do, too little time.

The good news is, if you’re looking for something to read, you don’t have to put up with any random waffle from here because we can recommend some real content! Enjoy:

• Interesting report from John Vidal in The Guardian on the arguments against the ‘GM revolution’ so many short-sighted politicians seem hell bent on. This has been around since January 7, but if you haven’t seen it, well worth a read.
• Also from The Guardian, news that Green & Black’s is to go 100% Fairtrade.
• It looks like French homegrown organic cereal crops are on the decrease. This is not good news and we’re not doing brilliantly in this area ourselves… (courtesy of GreenPlanet.net)

The Guardian today carries a very interesting take on the sale of Cadbury to American firm, Kraft, by Green & Black’s president and founder, Craig Sams.

Having been sold to Cadbury, Green & Black’s is now, of course, going to be part of the Kraft porfolio and that raises questions about what it will do with the organic and ethical brand.

Here’s what Craig thinks…

After the jumper madness (<shameless plug alert>which you could still win, by the way), back to the business of keeping tabs on the world of organic.

Without further ado, here are some of the stories that have grabbed our attention today:

• Are apple trees responding defensively to pesticides? Natural Products reports on research suggesting organic food may have lower allergen levels…
• Bleak news from Sheepdrove, but we’re not sure it can be extrapolated across the organic sector. This piece from the FT is worth reading, if a little unfocused.
• Stats suggest organic food sales in Germany have stagnated, but weren’t actually as hard hit, percentage-wise, as non-organic. Some comparison possibly to what happened here, when retailers anticipated a drop, cut back on organic lines, then had to re-stock as consumer demand remained. Over to internationalsupermarketnews.com.

Our now almost legendary jumper was spawned from a pattern found in a drawer at the Farmers Weekly offices. They were probably all the rage about 20 years ago.

The pattern ended up with us because our Certification Manager tells awful jokes and Community Editor at FW, Isabel Davies, took pity on him, told him he was ‘funny’ and sent him a ‘prize’.

Now, we’re all very fond of the jumper. It’s been something of a talking point, even outside the OF&G offices. Steve, as far as we can tell, appreciates the craftsmanship, but probably wouldn’t choose to sport a tractor-themed sweater on a daily basis. So on the strength of that we thought it could be put to better use.

We’re going to give everyone the chance to get their hands on our jumper and make a bit of money for a deserving charity in the process.

A page now exists here on JustGiving.com for you to make a donation to the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution. Anyone who makes a donation of one pound upwards will earn themselves an entry into a draw we’ll do at the end of February.

As a bonus though, you’ll get an extra ticket for every £5 barrier you break in pledges. So, give a fiver and we’ll enter you twice. Make it a tenner and we’ll give you three chances, and so on.

Click here to donate and earn your chance to win the jumper…

[If you donate, please, please, please note the instructions on the page about leaving an email address and unticking the Gift Aid box!]

The jumper is made from sumptuous organically certified wool, with its pedigree in the hills of Wales. Find out more at Ystrad Traditional Organics. It really is very nice stuff.

Bearing in mind that OF&G bought the wool and Katie has given her own time in knitting the jumper, we thought it would not be unreasonable to set a fundraising target of £50. But we’re pretty sure with everyone’s support we can better than.

Remember, you can’t find these things in the shops and apparently tractor patterns are like gold dust these days (just ask all the people who keep emailing us requesting copies!). And in a minute I’ll tell the boss that we’re throwing in an OF&G mug and pen to go with it. Surely that seals the deal?

Size-wise, the jumper comes in  just shy of a 44″ chest (or a snug 44″, depending on how you like to wear your jumpers!).

And with that, it’s over to you. It’s easy to pledge and the RABI will benefit from every pound. Please spread the word too. The more entries we get, the better.

This is the prize. Just look at that marvelous detailing!

One more time – here’s the link to make your donation.

And here’s Steve modeling for us:

The Farmers Weekly tractor knitting pattern jumper, as modeled by Steve.

The moment so many have awaited for so long has arrived. The Farmers Weekly tractor knitting pattern jumper is complete. It has been united with Certification Manager, Steve, who won the pattern in the first place with some appalling gags, and the pictures are below.

You’re probably reading this part of the post on your second scan of the page because you just couldn’t stop yourself from scrolling down immediately to see the pictures as soon as humanly possible.

So now you’re back with us, there are some credits to roll. Not least of them is multi-skilled Certification Officer, Katie Owens, who turned a concept into reality. While Steve probably though the limit of his obligations would be posing with the pattern itself, it was Katie who made his heart sink with the phrase: “If you get me the wool, I’ll knit it.” So, obviously, we pulled out all the stops to get the wool.

And on that note there must be a plug for the lovely Juliet Morris, of Ystrad Traditional Organics, who matched us up with some of her very fine organic wool. I’m no expert, but I can tell you that the jumper feels great!

And here, at last, it is:

The Farmers Weekly tractor knitting pattern jumper, as modeled by Steve while being tested for its thermal properties!

Yes, we made him stand outside. Well, that’s what it’s for, surely?

The jumper in close-up, so we can all admire the detail of Katie's handiwork.

And despite her protestations, the hero of the day, with her triumphant creation:

The jumper with its creator, Katie Owens.

So, does this bring us to a conclusion? Is the jumper saga at an end? Maybe. But then, maybe not…

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.

Grave news emerges from OMSCo (via the Daily Telegraph) that the co-operative might have to dump up to 100,000 litres of organic milk because of the weather.

According to the Telegraph piece problems with collection, storage and delivery have combined to create the kind of perfect storm (my term, not theirs) that is a nightmare in the SLDP category.

The paper goes on to muse that such a move could lead to a shortage of organic milk and dairy products on store shelves in the short term. Whatever, it would be a very nasty blow to OMSCo. Fingers crossed they can get things moving – and soon…

We kick off the new year with some news that will no doubt cause a degree of mirth around the office. Official confirmation has been give by our Knitter-in-Chief (a.k.a. Certification Officer, Katie Owens) that the Farmers Weekly tractor knitting pattern jumper is all but complete!

Yes, finally, this long-anticipated garment is due to be unveiled shortly. This is probably not viewed as such good news by our Certification Manager, Steve Clarkson, for it is he, as the winner of the pattern in a little Twitter-based competition with @FarmersWeekly, who will be the recipient and model of said jumper.

Unfortunately it has just been discovered that Steve is going to be out of the office after today and the so far mythical woolly pully is not on the premises yet, so the fashion parade will have to wait for a few days. But there is no escape for Steve and the day we have been waiting for since March is nigh…