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The Soil Association today announced the appointment of Rob Haward, operations director at Riverford Organic Vegetables, as grower representative on its standards board, following an open recruitment process. This appointment completes the Soil Association’s new, independent standards board. Rob Haward, operations director of Riverford Organic Vegetables, said “I am delighted to have been appointed. I hope my input will be of value to the Soil Association in enabling them to continue to lead the way on standards development. This process is essential in order to protect consumers, while balancing the technical constraints of growers.” The Soil Association Standards Board is responsible for maintaining and developing all of the Association’s...

Kevin Rudd, Australia’s newly elected Prime Minister, has ratified the Kyoto Protocol. In doing so, Australia joins the growing list of countries getting serious about climate change. It’s refreshing to see a newly elected Government act on its election commitments as early as the Rudd Government has. And things are looking up for Australia’s organic industry too. The Rudd Labor Government has announced plans to fund changes to the way Australia’s organic certification system works. Finally it appears as though Australia’s burgeoning organic industry and the consumers it serves will benefit from a uniform domestic organic standard. Good news indeed!

Online surveys by professional market researchers like the AC Nielsen group provide only approximate insight into those factors influencing consumer behaviour in the market for organic goods and services. Experience shows that rapidly shifting views about health, environmental issues, and food safety can also precipitate abrupt shifts in consumer behaviour. In many such instances the most immediate economic effects are delivered prior to the distribution of relevant statistical data. AC Nielsen’s most recent survey on organic consumer trends identified price and lack of credibility as two of the significant barriers against the purchase of foods promoting specific health benefits. From a large sample distributed across Europe, Asia Pacific,...

It’s great to see smaller countries, such as the Pacific Island nation of Samoa, embrace organic agriculture. Today, Samoa’s Prime Minister, the Honourable Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi, announced the launch of two Pacific organic projects. The two projects include ‘building capacities on certification of organic agriculture in the Pacific’ as well as ‘developing regional organic standards and strategies for enhancing organic agriculture in Pacific Island countries’. Both projects are to be funded by the UN agency International Fund for Agriculture Developments (IFAD). The first project will be implemented by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) in conjunction with the Women...

Locating a bottle of premium organic sake can be a difficult challenge, especially in regions where the value of this complex and historic beverage is defined in terms of its alcohol content and ability to shock the western palate. I’m far from experienced in the cultural intricacies of sake, but have gained some valuable insights through careful observation and listening. One of the most frequently repeated recommendations is to choose the best quality sake one can afford. Upon further questioning, this advice is sometimes refined by reference to the term “munouyaku” which means no agricultural chemicals. In Japan, traditional varieties of sake rice have been selectively bred over many centuries. The best sake rice is characterised...