"Oz" wrote in message
...

Absolutely true, but it's possible to have poor quality mass-produced
organic produce (which is increasingly happening) and high quality non-
organic produce. This is particularly true of small producers who cannot
bear the regulatory costs of organic production and are doing it as much
for love as money.

While politicians may be raving about the increase in organic, I have talked
to a couple of organic dairy farmers who would go back to conventional but
cannot afford to because this would mean paying back the conversion grant.
The economics of organic production are getting rough, the supermarkets have
started winding down the price of organic milk and other organic produce
will follow.


As anyone who has eaten stubbsy's (non-organic but utterly superb)
smoked salmon can attest.


It's not whether it has an organic label stuck on it or not, it's more
how it was produced in the first place.

When I did the first ring round to get people on Farmdirect that was an
interesting experience. I came across a lot of people who were passionate
about the value of organic production, but their passion was only matched
for their contempt for the soil association.
If someone is willing to set to and produce decent food to the best of their
ability, and do this to a set of standards they believe in, then I have
nothing but respect for them. But I am afraid that if something has to be
flown into the country, it isn't organic any more, no matter what some
certifying authority says. The idea that food miles are more virtuous than
roundup is one for the logic choppers and 'how many angels dance on the head
of a pin' brigade

Jim Webster