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Contrary to wild media speculation before the Soil Association's press briefing this morning, the charity has decided against banning air-freighted organic products from getting its prestigious stamp. But there are conditions. In order for any air-freighted organic food product to be certified, it must qualify for either the Fairtrade Mark or the Soil Association's Ethical Trade Mark as proof that the trade clearly benefits poor farmers in developing countries.
This should satisfy critics whose main argument against a ban is that organic farmers in the developing world would lose out massively if a ban on air-freighted food was implemented in the UK. The new air-freight standards will also require any licensees to develop plans for reducing or eradicating their dependence on air freight, and companies in developed countries will likewise have to qualify for the Fairtrade Mark or Soil Association Ethical Trade Mark.
The Soil Association made it clear this morning that these are only proposals and, even if passed, wouldn't be implemented until 2009 -- a statement that led to acusations of fudging the issue. Anna Bradley, chair of the Soil Association's standard board responded: "Many ordinary consumers think the answer to the problem is to ban air freight straight away, but our licensees have very different perspectives on this." She added: "It is neither sustainable nor responsible to encourage poorer farmers to be reliant on air freight, but we recognise that building alternative markets that offer the same social and economic benefits as organic exports will take time."
Some farmers and companies, such as Blue Skies in Ghana, which grows and cuts organic fruit ready for consumption in the UK and Europe, rely entirely on being able to air freight their products. According to Earnest Abloh, chief agronomist of Blue Skies -- who was also at the meeting -- banning all air freight would be catastrophic for the company and its 1,500 employees. At present, Blue Skies flies the pre-cut fruit to the UK in passenger flights.
The Soil Association's policy advisor, Peter Melchett, acknowledged that for some farmers and companies in developing countries it would be very difficult to trade with the UK and Europe without using air freight, and at the moment only a small minority of the Soil Association's licensees meet the ethical standards. "But," said Melchett, "in most cases we know it's possible to ship rather than air freight."
The amount of air-freighted organic food products the Soil Association deals with represents just 0.5 per cent of all imported organic food in the UK. Anna Bradley explained: "The relationship between air freight and organic food and whether or not it's appropriate to have any air-freighted organic produce is the commonest question we get from consumers, so we wanted to explore the issue." She also stated that the Soil Association is not necessarily working towards eradicating airfreight at the moment, but the main aim is to seriously minimise it. Melchett, added: "We think there'll be a time where airfreight will become a thing of the past, so right now we are just trying to get the organic sector ready for that."
03 March 2008 02:40pm
seems a shame to me that they spent so much time consulting only to decide to sit on the fence.
The reality, surely, is that the most ethical to do would be to secure the future climate of overseas countries growing organics.
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Discover the brilliant experienced people who are helping SmartPlanet through the green and ethical minefield.
