Organic Fortnight

1-16 September 2007
Wake up to an Organic Breakfast!

The Soil Association is asking everyone to ‘Wake up to an Organic Breakfast!’ to celebrate Soil Association Organic Fortnight, Europe’s biggest celebration of organic food.

Robin Maynard, Soil Association Campaigns Director said,
“More and more people are waking up and supporting planet-friendly farming by choosing to buy organic food. They know it’s the best way to avoid things they don’t want in their or their children’s food like pesticides or GM; of getting more of the good stuff, such as increased omega 3s in organic milk, as well as supporting more wildlife and cutting pollution. Organic farming also uses much less energy to grow our food, so producing far fewer dangerous climate change gases.

“The government knows organic farming delivers all these benefits – so why doesn’t the government encourage everyone to take the easy, everyday action of choosing planet-friendly, organic food? Organic Fortnight will mobilise public support to deliver an organic wake-up call to Gordon Brown and the government.”

Hundreds of organic breakfast events will take place countrywide on farms and high streets, in cafes, hotels, restaurants, schools and clubs, to promote the health, taste, environmental, and animal welfare benefits of organic food and farming.

To Find an Organic Fortnight event near you visit http://www.soilassociation.org/organicfortnight

Top 6 reasons to wake up to an organic breakfast:

1. A better start to the day for you and your children
The best way to avoid pesticides, GM and unnecessary additives is to eat organic. Published research indicates that on average organic food contains higher levels of vitamin C and essential minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron and chromium as well as cancer-fighting antioxidants. Organic milk is naturally higher in Omega 3 fatty acids, Vitamin E, Vitamin A (Beta-Carotene) and certain other antioxidants than non-organic milk.

2. Supporting the UK farmers growing your cereal
Organic farming is helping reverse the decline in the UK's agricultural workforce, which has fallen by 80% over the last 50 years. Organic farms in the UK provide on average over 30% more jobs per farm than equivalent non-organic farms. Organic farms tend to be more diverse, so requiring a greater number of people and skills for a wider range of jobs, as well as running entrepreneurial activities like local box-schemes and farm-shops. Although employing more people, organic farms are profitable.

3. A great rise and shine for the environment
Overall organic farming supports more butterflies, beetles, birds, bats and wild plants than non-organic farming. The UK government has said that it is better for wildlife, causes lower pollution from sprays, and produces less carbon dioxide - the main global warming gas - and less dangerous wastes.

4. Producing Planet Friendly Food
Organic farming can play a major role in addressing climate change. Organic substantially cuts back many of the key input adding to climate change. Organic farming typically uses 30% less energy than non-organic agriculture. Climate-change boosting artificial fertilisers are banned, instead organic farmers build fertility naturally using plants like clover. So, eating an organic breakfast everyday is one simple thing everyone can do to help tackle climate change.

5. Bacon & eggs from happier pigs and chickens
Leading animal welfare organisation, Compassion in World Farming has endorsed Soil Association organic welfare standards - “Organic farming has the potential to offer the very highest standards of animal welfare. Compassion in World Farming believes that the Soil Association’s welfare standards are leaders in the field.” (Joyce d’Silva, Compassion in World Farming). The Soil Association also bans the routine use of antibiotics.

6. No nasty bills hiding under your napkin
UK taxpayers fork out over £120m annually to pay for chemicals to be removed from drinking water, mostly from pesticides used in non-organic farming.

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