Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while will be aware of my occasional rants about the availability of Irish organic produce. Although, as I have discussed before, it is not always more eco-friendly to buy local produce, especially when it is out of season, it does seem a little crazy to me that in a blossoming market we are still importing approximately 70% of our organic produce. It would be great to know that manufacturers of certified organic prepared foods would be able to source a sufficient quantity and quality of raw ingredients in this country to satisfy their production needs.The answer of course is to convert more land to organic agriculture. It seems that the Green Party are staying true to their election promise to work towards a greater proportion of organic land with Trevor Sargent last week announcing his Organic Action Plan for Ireland.
The Green Party's website makes reference to '60 actions' included in the plan which strives to achieve 5% of land area devoted to organic agriculture by 2010.
There are incentives to Farmers who choose to go organic including annual payments during both the conversion period and through REPS (Rural Environmental Protection Scheme) when fully certified.
5% does seem to be a huge target to reach but it is encouraging to see that the Greens are aiming their sights high. At the very least it has already sparked debate on the organic issue. It is sad however to note that the organic sector seems to be getting a hard time from the Irish press at the moment with very few column inches devoted Mr. Sargent's new plan. I was a little disconcerted to hear Mr. Sargent interviewed on The Last Word on Today FM last week. Presenter Matt Cooper decided to pick apart the whole organic movement and gave Mr. Sargent very little time to elaborate on the new plan. One of Matt Coopers comments was that the Organic sector had been given a lot of favorable press, it left me wondering if he had been reading the same newspapers as me!
I haven't read the entire Organic Action Plan for Ireland yet as I haven't been able to source it on line. I have emailed the Green Party asking for a copy and if and when they respond I hope to report on in in more detail.
Further Reading: Green Party Statement
Hi Amanda
ReplyDeleteSorry I meant to get to this sooner. The plan is indeed ambitious and it needs to be matched with ambition.
Trev is obviously enthusiastic, but the increase in question is 520% - fairly steep!
I'm doing a series of reviews of the action plan and the teagasc organic production plan over the next few weeks in the Examiner.
Lots of it is good news to a point, but the horticulture commitments are v weak unfortunately.
And this is the area where most importing is done.
That said, there are some very interesting new things coming down stream.