Is Australia about to kill its organic standard?
Fears seem to be growing in Australia that the Government there is going to effectively remove controls on the certification of organic produce, much to the horror of those in the country’s organic sector.
This seems to be an amazingly misguided step which could destroy the export market overnight and massacre the confidence of Aussie shoppers in buying organic food.
The organic industry was hoping for a tightening of the regulations, allowing them to be legally enforced for the first time, but it seems, according this report, what is actually likely to happen is a move the other way.
If there’s truth in this, it would be a very, very bizarre move. The piece includes comments from the general manager of certifying body, Organic Food Chain.
Australia’s fertile soil is being lost faster than it can be replenished and will eventually lead to the “topsoil bank” becoming empty. Extreme evidence of how soil is being eroded was seen in September when Sydney was blanketed by its worst dust storm in 70 years. Organic farming could be part of the answer, but there is no clear evidence that we can feed the current population using organic approaches, never mind meeting demands in time.