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Here’s a speech delivered by HRH The Prince of Wales at the inaugural “Food for Life” Awards in London recently. It’s so insightful that I thought it should be included in full. This is the kind of support the organic movement needs to combat the assault from industrial agricultural concerns. Enjoy. Ladies and gentlemen, if I may say so, it really is a huge pleasure to be here this afternoon to present these inaugural “Food for Life Partnership Awards”.  I know from Peter Melchett and Emma Noble, who have worked so tirelessly on this campaign, that they are immensely heartened that so many schools have met the criteria to be award winners in this first year of the awards.  The fact that there is no gold winner this...

Australia is currently experiencing a long and exhausting drought. Farmers are struggling. Many of them have been forced to sell their family farms. Those that remain face tough times ahead. During times of difficulty such as this, it’s often simpler to look for quick fix solutions rather than to focus on the more sustainable long-term options. Biological Farmers of Australia Standards Chairman, Dr. Andrew Monk warns against adopting quick fix solutions. Instead, he emphasises the importance of focusing on natural farming systems which emphasise biodiversity and encourage sustainable practices. Dr. Monk says biodiversity can reduce the vulnerability, and boost returns of crops, particularly during trying seasons. “Biodiversity makes...

In comments published in today’s Guardian, Clare Oxborrow reinforces the position held by Friends of The Earth. She correctly points to the fact that GM remains dominated by only a few global representatives and that little has been achieved in the area of productivity benefits or further reassurance regarding long-term environmental outcomes. After 30 years of research, we are looking at small numbers of commodity crops which are mostly used for stock feed. Despite the early claims, pesticide use has increased as a consequence of GM technologies and there is greater likelihood of GM contamination in a significant number of important food resources. A recent concern raised by GM Freeze is the UK government’s apparent rush to support...