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14 Jun 2000
Friends of the Earth today congratulated supermarket chain Iceland over its plan to increase dramatically the amount of organic food stocked by the store. Iceland will sell the food at the same price as its non-organic own brand products.
The UK Government has under-invested in organic farming. As a result 80 per
cent of Iceland's organic vegetables will come from abroad. 70 per cent
of the organic food sold in the UK is imported and only 2 per cent of
UK farm land has full organic status. Many more farmers want to go organic
but government money to support their conversion has run out. As a result
British farmers are losing out on the organic boom. This is why Friends
of the Earth and 50 other organisations, including supermarkets, are
backing a Bill calling for the Government to set a target for increasing
organic production in the UK [1].
Sandra Bell, Real Food Campaigner at Friends of the Earth said
"Once again Iceland has grasped the initiative. The public want
Real Food, produced without GMO's and pesticides, at affordable prices.
This is what Iceland is going to do. It's now up to the other supermarkets
to do the same."
However, this welcome initiative also puts the spotlight on the Government's
woeful support for organic farming. It's about time the Government did
more to help British farmers be part of a real success story rather than
pouring taxpayers money into a GM crops which threatens organic farming
and which hardly anyone wants".
Yesterday Environment Minister Michael Meacher admitted that there was
no way of preventing GM crops contaminating conventional and organic crops.
Friends of the Earth has now renewed its call for the Government to abandon
the current GM trials programme.
Millions of pound of taxpayers money is currently being spent on GM farm
scale trials, even though they threaten organic and conventional food,
and despite the fact that most people in the UK do not want GM food.
[1] The Organic Food and Farming Targets Bill, has been adopted by Paul Tyler MP. It requires the Government to set a target of 30% of farmland in England and Wales to be in organic production by 2010. The Bill has the support of over 200 MPs and over 60 national organisations. The Bill is due for its second reading in July.
Contact details:
Friends of the Earth
26-28 Underwood St.
LONDON
N1 7JQ
Tel: 020 7490 1555
Fax: 020 7490 0881
Web: www.foe.co.uk/feedback.html
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