This article is from page 38 of the 2008-08-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 38 JPG
CLARE growing organic sector is set for a boost following the an- nouncement of a multi-million euro campaign to promote organic and lo- cally grown food.
With more then 8 farmers mar- kets already in operation around the county, Clare has one of Ireland’s fastest growing organic sectors. It is hoped that this new initiative, the first major promotion of organic food in the the EU, will greatly increase the numbers attending farmers mar- kets and growing local organic pro- duce.
The move has been welcomed by Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food,
Trevor Sargent, who welcomed the launch of the new campaign.
The new campaign, whose slogan is “Organic farming – good for na- ture, good for you’, aims to inform consumers about the meaning and benefits of organic farming and food production.
The web-based campaign will focus on increasing consumer awareness and recognition of organic products, and especially on young people and children to carry the organic idea into the future.
According to Sargent, the launch of this campaign 1s indeed timely for Ireland. He said that the Programme for Government sets down an ambi- tious target of 5 per cent of the land area to be under organic production
by 2012.
“At present Ireland is at 1 per cent, with over 43,000 hectares being farmed organically,” he said.
“In April Minister Sargent launched the Department’s Organic Farming Action Plan 2008-2012 in response to the Government commitment. Ac- cess to information is a key driver in the development of the organic sec- tor and this new website will be a very useful addition.”
In the last few years, the number of organic operators – farmers, produc- ers, processors and importers – has erown strongly. In 2005, there was a total of 182,305 of these operators in the EU-25, a 13.4 per cent increase from 2004.
In recent years, the European or-
ganic retail market has experienced strong growth of between 5 and 30 per cent, depending on the coun- try. Increasing consumer demand is strengthening the organic market and giving farmers and processors new opportunities.
The European Commission will present the Campaign at the upcom- ing National Organic Food Confer- ence on September 4th 2008 in the Waterford Institute of Technology.
The Commission also announced a competition to develop a new EU organic farming logo that is due to become mandatory on all organic pre-packaged food from July 2010.
For more information on the Or- ganic Farming Campaign check out www.organic-farming.europa.eu.