Small organic farms shun the downturn

Source: greenplanet.net

Large-scale organic farms in Spain have been affected by a drop in sales, also due to the fact that supermarkets over the past year have reduced the shelf space dedicated to organic produce. But many smaller farmers could avoid the consequences of organic consumption drop, as they are not dependent on large corporate customers, such as supermarkets.

British BBC tells the story of a husband-and-wife team's organic farm in the Asturias, whose business has been barely affected by the economic recession. "We're in an area which has neither had a huge boom nor a huge recession, and as a consequence we are fairly insulated from the general global crisis - Mr Burch said -. Smaller farms, which have alternative outlets through farmers’ markets or specialised shops, are not having as much problems", he added.

Mr and Mrs Burch's business is a diversified one (like many others in rural Spain): they also run a farmhouse hotel and a restaurant in addition to the farm itself, and they try to source as much food - now about 35% of the farm's produce of vegetables, cider apples, lamb - as possible for the hotel guests from their own farm. "Over the years we've made an effort to try and increase the percentage of food that we produce on site", Mrs. Burch added.

The word to IFOAM

According to Markus Arbenz, executive director of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), a similar robust organic sector can be found elsewhere, both in Spain and abroad.

In Spain as a whole, there have been no sign of a downturn in organic farming, at least not up to the end of 2008, BBC reports. The number of producers and cultivated surfaces even continued to grow throughout last year, according to government statistics.

Also outside Spain the organic sector seems to be in good health. Although the growth of organic goods’ sales has slowed down in most countries this year, they are still higher than in 2008, which was itself a record year.

“It seems that, while discount and low-end retailers face more difficulties selling organic products, specialised organic shops and high-end retailers continue to develop beyond expectations”, Mr Arbenz says.

“People who are dramatically affected by the recession do try to economise by lowering organic consumption. But the big majority of organic consumers is so convinced that they would rather economise in other spheres”, IFOAM director concluded.

http://en.greenplanet.net/food/organic/1018-small-organic-food-producers-shun-the-downturn.html
Monday, 12 October 2009