Airfreighted organic food to be fairtrade too

Imported, air-freighted food should only be labelled ‘organic’ in the UK if it is Fairtrade too, the Soil Association said yesterday.

After months of consultation, the association’s standards board made its recommendations to change its policy.

Less than 1% of organic produce arrives in the UK by air, but 80% of these products originate in low or middle-lower income countries. The association – and the Fairtrade foundation – argue that being able to sell this produce on the UK market provides a valuable social and economic impact for the home countries.

Air-freighting goods incurs 177 time more greenhouse gases than shipping does, the association admits. Its long-term goal is to minimise air freighting where possible. On average, organic farming consumes 30% less energy than non-organic, the association says.

"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,” explains Anna Bradley, chair of the Soil Association’s Standards Board.

As for consumers, what do they want? Ethical shoppers are bombarded with several criteria during the course of a trip to the market, and some often choose non-organic rather than organic products if they know the organic version has been flown in. Will the Soil Association’s recommendations make it easier or harder on them?

Peter Melchett, policy director for the Soil Association, said, “The results of our very widespread consultation show that most people in the North and the South say that they only support air freight if it delivers real environmental and social benefits. The linking of organic and ethical or Fairtrade standards does that.”

Photo: Soil Association (fruit and vegetable stall in the market at the Organic Festival 2007)

Airfreighted organic food to be fairtrade too

Imported, air-freighted food should only be labelled ‘organic’ in the UK if it is Fairtrade too, the Soil Association said yesterday.

After months of consultation, the association’s standards board made its recommendations to change its policy.

Less than 1% of organic produce arrives in the UK by air, but 80% of these products originate in low or middle-lower income countries. The association – and the Fairtrade foundation – argue that being able to sell this produce on the UK market provides a valuable social and economic impact for the home countries.

Air-freighting goods incurs 177 time more greenhouse gases than shipping does, the association admits. Its long-term goal is to minimise air freighting where possible. On average, organic farming consumes 30% less energy than non-organic, the association says.

"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,” explains Anna Bradley, chair of the Soil Association’s Standards Board.

As for consumers, what do they want? Ethical shoppers are bombarded with several criteria during the course of a trip to the market, and some often choose non-organic rather than organic products if they know the organic version has been flown in. Will the Soil Association’s recommendations make it easier or harder on them?

Peter Melchett, policy director for the Soil Association, said, “The results of our very widespread consultation show that most people in the North and the South say that they only support air freight if it delivers real environmental and social benefits. The linking of organic and ethical or Fairtrade standards does that.”

Photo: Soil Association (fruit and vegetable stall in the market at the Organic Festival 2007)

Supermarkets improving but still have a way to go as more customers try to go green

A new report out today shows that consumers in all income brackets are looking to buy green, but while food retailers are getting better with regards to sustainability, there is still room to be done.

The National Consumer Council’s report finds that all retailers are improving, not just Sainsbury’s, M&S and Waitrose, traditionally seen as serving a higher-income bracket. Sainsbury’s got the best rating of all supermarkets in question, receiving a B, as did M&S and Waitrose.

Asda and Tesco improved their rankings from a D to a C. And in what the council calls “perhaps the most significant of all in terms of long-term trends,” Morrisons and Somerfield both gained higher marks this year, each earning a D rather than an E.

Some highlights:

-an Asda product, ‘Smart Price’ value fish fingers, which are sourced from a sustainable supply of pollack and display the Marine Stewardship Council certification. Pollack is recommended by the National Trust.

-another own-brand Asda product, toilet paper, dispaying the Forest Stewardship Council’s approval marking.

-Asda, Co-op and Somerfield selling more in-season, UK-sourced vegetables.

Despite these improvements from the bottom of the pile, the Council still voices some concerns, as not one retailer earned the A mark of a “truly green business.”

A few low points:

-No supermarket gained the top mark for UK-sourced, in-season produce.

-“Wildly varying” performance with regards to packaging and plastic bags was registered.

-Some stores contradicting their own green messages: for example, a Waitrose store advertised the plum season across the world, conflicting with its advertised policy of sourcing locally wherever possible.

The Council is calling on all major supermarkets to source more local produce, to stock more energy-saving lightbulbs, to implement carrier-bag incentive schemes, to sell more sustainable fish, and to use more recycled materials, and to set stricter targets for increasing organic ranges.

The Culinary Digest reckons that the National Consumer Council has pretty well hit the mark. Local, sustainable initiatives have filtered through society quite dramatically, with all consumers wanting to make a difference, so long as they can afford to. It is critical that these retailers look to change many of their policies as soon as possible.

One issue with packaging that The Culinary Digest has noticed, particularly in the case of Sainsbury’s, is the ‘Sorry, not yet recyclable’ mark on many plastic packages and cartons. Firstly, why are these not recyclable, when so many types of plastic are? Secondly, instead of spending money or time on printing fancy packaging, why are they not spending resources in this area? And finally, why are these types of packaging so common in the up-market ‘Taste the Difference’ range, when consumers are already paying a decided amount more for a top-quality product? Should not sustainability be an important part of this?

The NCC report Green Grocers is available here
The NCC report Greening Supermarkets: how supermarkets can make greening shpping easier (2006) can be found here

Supermarkets improving but still have a way to go as more customers try to go green

A new report out today shows that consumers in all income brackets are looking to buy green, but while food retailers are getting better with regards to sustainability, there is still room to be done.

The National Consumer Council’s report finds that all retailers are improving, not just Sainsbury’s, M&S and Waitrose, traditionally seen as serving a higher-income bracket. Sainsbury’s got the best rating of all supermarkets in question, receiving a B, as did M&S and Waitrose.

Asda and Tesco improved their rankings from a D to a C. And in what the council calls “perhaps the most significant of all in terms of long-term trends,” Morrisons and Somerfield both gained higher marks this year, each earning a D rather than an E.

Some highlights:

-an Asda product, ‘Smart Price’ value fish fingers, which are sourced from a sustainable supply of pollack and display the Marine Stewardship Council certification. Pollack is recommended by the National Trust.

-another own-brand Asda product, toilet paper, dispaying the Forest Stewardship Council’s approval marking.

-Asda, Co-op and Somerfield selling more in-season, UK-sourced vegetables.

Despite these improvements from the bottom of the pile, the Council still voices some concerns, as not one retailer earned the A mark of a “truly green business.”

A few low points:

-No supermarket gained the top mark for UK-sourced, in-season produce.

-“Wildly varying” performance with regards to packaging and plastic bags was registered.

-Some stores contradicting their own green messages: for example, a Waitrose store advertised the plum season across the world, conflicting with its advertised policy of sourcing locally wherever possible.

The Council is calling on all major supermarkets to source more local produce, to stock more energy-saving lightbulbs, to implement carrier-bag incentive schemes, to sell more sustainable fish, and to use more recycled materials, and to set stricter targets for increasing organic ranges.

The Culinary Digest reckons that the National Consumer Council has pretty well hit the mark. Local, sustainable initiatives have filtered through society quite dramatically, with all consumers wanting to make a difference, so long as they can afford to. It is critical that these retailers look to change many of their policies as soon as possible.

One issue with packaging that The Culinary Digest has noticed, particularly in the case of Sainsbury’s, is the ‘Sorry, not yet recyclable’ mark on many plastic packages and cartons. Firstly, why are these not recyclable, when so many types of plastic are? Secondly, instead of spending money or time on printing fancy packaging, why are they not spending resources in this area? And finally, why are these types of packaging so common in the up-market ‘Taste the Difference’ range, when consumers are already paying a decided amount more for a top-quality product? Should not sustainability be an important part of this?

The NCC report Green Grocers is available here
The NCC report Greening Supermarkets: how supermarkets can make greening shpping easier (2006) can be found here

Sainsbury’s own-label tea to go Fairtrade

Sainsbury’s has announced today that its range of own-broad teas will be converted to Fairtrade.

The switchover, expected to be completed over the next three years, will make Sainsbury’s the largest retailer of Fairtrade tea in the UK, according to Justin King, ceo of the company. The first tea to be made Fairtrade is Sainsbury’s Red Label.

The tea move follows an earlier pledge by Sainsbury’s to make all of its bananas Fairtrade, which was completed this quarter.

King announced Sainsbury’s plans at the announcement of Sainsbury’s second quarter trading statement, which covers the 16 weeks to 6 October. Total sales for the retailer were up 4.7%, excluding fuel purchases. Like-for-like sales were up 3.1%, excluding fuel, which makes this the eleventh consecutive quarter that Sainsbury’s has enjoyed this growth.

Sainsbury’s own-label tea to go Fairtrade

Sainsbury’s has announced today that its range of own-broad teas will be converted to Fairtrade.

The switchover, expected to be completed over the next three years, will make Sainsbury’s the largest retailer of Fairtrade tea in the UK, according to Justin King, ceo of the company. The first tea to be made Fairtrade is Sainsbury’s Red Label.

The tea move follows an earlier pledge by Sainsbury’s to make all of its bananas Fairtrade, which was completed this quarter.

King announced Sainsbury’s plans at the announcement of Sainsbury’s second quarter trading statement, which covers the 16 weeks to 6 October. Total sales for the retailer were up 4.7%, excluding fuel purchases. Like-for-like sales were up 3.1%, excluding fuel, which makes this the eleventh consecutive quarter that Sainsbury’s has enjoyed this growth.