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Profile
It is no wonder organic products have increased in appeal.
As consumers pursue healthier lifestyles, they seek
out naturally healthy foods. Organic products are most
desirable for their controlled or reduced exposure to
pesticides, GMOs and irradition. Organics represent
a growing retail industry––worth $1 billion
in Canada with a 20% growth rate and $9.3 billion in
the U.S.
Organics are a "Big Picture" issue. However,
its value is often confused with elitism since organics
are generally 15% higher in cost––an improvement
from a 35% to 40% cost differential 5 years ago. While
organic products are in demand, increasing in variety,
and better for the environment, challenges do exist:
price, reduced shelf life, limited availability, much
needed marketing time and a minority market niche.
Definition
The CFIA calls it "a holistic production system,
whose primary goal is to optimize the health and productivity
of interdependent communities of soil life, plants,
animals and people". Simply put, organic is a method
of crop and livestock production characterized by crop
rotation, compost and manure use, and the elimination
of pesticides, fertilizers, hormones and antibiotics.
History
In 1940, Sir Albert Howard, an English aristocrat, published
An Agricultural Testament advising Britain to
build soil fertility through permanent agricultural
systems and urban food waste. The term "organic"
was first used in J.L Rodale’s 1942 Organic
Gardening and Farming and in 1947, the UK-ratified
Organic Food Standards which became the basis
of EU regulations.
Standards
Since 1999 only voluntary standards, consistent with
ISO and HACCP, existed: no GMOs, irradiation or animal
byproducts as feed. Today, there is no official certifying
body in Canada. Forty-seven self-administered bodies
exist––Select uses Organic Crop Producers
and Processors Ontario Inc. (O.C.P.P.) standards.
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