People choosing environmentally sustainable farming

Even with all the rather gloomy economic news, I have heard some reassuring news regarding organic and environmentally sustainable farming. In Germany there has been very little fall in the demand for organic food. On the whole it looks as though the demand remains for organic produce.

Also on Farming Today, the BBC were reporting that while they were finding some difficulties for growers and farmers, on the whole, consumers were still buying produce that is produced in an environmentally sustainable way.

When the economic down turn started, the media were quick to start saying that people would abandon buying Organic food. While I know that there would have been some people that would do that, I also believe that the majority of people that decide to opt for quality and sustainability would not abandon principles that quickly.

While I know that the higher food costs that filtered through last year did cause everyone to look at the costs of their shopping basket. However people that understand that environmentally and sustainably produced food is also better quality, will not stop buying quality food. They may buy less, but they will not switch to the low quality that forms the majority of the market. In fact in my supermarket when packets of pasta made from non organic ingredients went to over one pound sterling, the organic alternative remained at less than one pound. I think the reason for that was simply that the organic was bought by the supermarket before the price of wheat shot up, and that people assumed that the organic had to be more expensive. The non organic price has now fallen back now and the organic is only five pence higher, so I will continue to buy the organic.

Now I doubt that I was the only person that spotted that one, and I had many of folks in the village buying organic for the first time just by pointing that anomaly out. However, I know that locally I am very much in the minority of wanting quality food. Often I see people that live off the “supposedly” cheap ready meals. Further, most people will buy on price rather than quality.

That said, there are some good food shops in Consett, the closest town to my village, such as the butchers and the green grocers. But there is not any outlets that sell whole foods so organic requires a lot more effort to find. Thus it is often the extra travel costs and the inconvenience that makes buying sustainably produced items far more difficult and expensive to obtain. I would sign up to an organic box scheme, but none will deliver to my village as I would be the only customer.

In the village the quality of the food available has fallen and the range of items has fallen. Thus, if it were not for the local public transport links I personally would be seriously impaired from getting food of any quality. Additionally, some items are exorbitantly high in price. Bread for a wholemeal loaf is forty percent more expensive, and a French baguette is nearly double the price.

I strongly suspect that many shops are using the economic down turn to push up prices and reduce quality, blaming the economic situation. When in reality it really is just profiteering. After all I am not likely to pay a four pound return fare just to save fifty pence on the price of a loaf. Nor will most people.

Therefore while there are problems for environmentally sustainable food, I am finding and seeing that many of the difficulties are the result of doom layered hype. While the economic climate is difficult and ordinary people can only afford to buy what they can afford, I feel that people will increasingly switch to opting for good quality sustainable food rather than the poor quality expensive rubbish we are so often offered. This can be seen in the latest sales figures for Eggs. The sales for organic eggs remain at six percent of total UK sales, the sales of free range eggs are up by over ten percent. So in this small way, people are choosing to opt for ethical and environmental choices. While one swallow does not make a summer, it is a detail that encourages me that people do care about the planet.