Latest Organic Welsh News

A market situation report this week from the EU Commission in Brussels has concluded that supermarkets are failing to pass on recent falls in dairy product prices to their customers and therefore delaying possible recovery in the dairy sector.

According to their report “The pronounced fall in the prices of milk and dairy commodities since the end of 2007 has only triggered a slight decline in consumer prices for dairy products.”

It says “The magnitude, the delay and asymmetry in the downward adjustment of dairy consumer prices clearly shows that the EU dairy supply chain does not function efficiently,”.

The commission’s figures show that despite wholesale mik prices dropping by 31%, skimmed milk powder by 49%, and butter by 39% the price consumers pay for dairy products in supermarkets has dropped by only 2%.

“Preventing consumers from benefiting from lower prices constrains the development of demand for dairy products and thus hinders the strength and pace of recovery.”

More information can be found here.

Wales needs more native trees!

Coed Cadw (the Woodland Trust) have set up an e-Petition on the National Assembly website. They welcome the Forestry Commission Wales target to create 1,500 hectares of new woodland over the next three years and call on the National Assembly for Wales to urge the Welsh Government and the Forestry Commission to fulfil this target, as the first step towards a doubling of native woodland cover by 2050.

They continue: “Wales is one of the least wooded countries in Europe. We support the ambition outlined in the Woodlands for Wales Strategy to create more woodland to benefit people and wildlife, to help avoid flooding, to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and also provide a sustainable supply of timber for the future.”

You can view and sign the petition here, and visit the Coed Cadw website here.

A new government scheme will provide payments for households who contribute electricity to the National Grid, and will be paid for how much they produce. The new scheme is designed to encourage communities to generate wind, water and solar power.
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Triodos bank has set up a new lending initiative to help farmers overcome the costs associated with converting to organic cereal production. The bank specialises in ‘ethical lending’, and has set aside five million pounds for conventional cereal farmers converting to organic production. It will lend at 1% over the Bank of England base rate, which is currently 0.5%. Farmers can borrow up to £500,000 at the preferential rate, but may also be able to borrow more at normal rates.

The bank lends £36m to organic food and farming businesses, up 20% in the first quarter of 2009.

If successful the initiative could support an extra 10,000 acres of new organic cereal production, equivalent to 10% of the UK’s total. compared with normal market rates farmers could also save £160,000 over the space of three years.

Ian Price, manager of Triodos’ Farming and Food team said: “Farmers have been affected by the credit crunch, so this package will remove one of the reasons for non-conversion,” . “We hope this will also encourage the organic sector to address market awareness issues and continue to press home that technical challenges can be overcome.”

For more information and to visit the Triodos website please click here.

Council recycling schemes for household food waste in Wales will benefit from a new grant package of £14million, announced by the Welsh Assembly. Thirteen local councils will be awarded between £714,000 and £3.137million over the next two years to help meet recycling targets. Schemes will collect household and kitchen food waste and turn it into compost or even electricity and fuel. Blaenau Gwent will also set up Wales’ first plastic bottle recycling plant.

Al Gore and the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have been jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to disseminate knowledge about man-made climate change. Former US vice-president Al Gore won two Oscars for his film “An Inconvenient Truth”, a hard-hitting documentary that highlights the potential impact of global warming. All secondary schools in Wales, England and Scotland have received a copy of the film, but a high court judge has recently ruled that it must be shown with teachers’ guidance on nine areas of scientific dispute, after an attempt by a Kent school governor to ban the film from being shown.

A report commissioned by UK TV Food has named Ceredigion as the top place for quality food in the UK, with Powys second and Monmouthshire fifth. The judging panel, which included TV Chef Gary Rhodes, evaluated every region in the UK to find out who made the best use of their local ingredients. Ceredigion’s high proportion of farms (34 for every 1,000 people), food markets, breweries, restaurants and numerous summer food festival gave it the top marks. The Local Food Hero for Wales was named as Jean Kane who runs an organic café, Organic Zone, in Cardiff.

The Food Standards Agency has revealed that carrots are the number one veg choice for Christmas lunch in Britain, knocking Brussel sprouts into second place. The FSA surveyed 2000 consumers and found that 76% said that tucking into a traditional Christmas dinner with all the trimmings was one of their favourite parts of Christmas. 23% said that when they cooked their Christmas meal, they would be taking into account various dietary requirements such as allergies, intolerances and diabetes. 19% said they would be cooking a vegetarian option. The FSA website gives guidance on eating healthily and safely at Christmas, with a turkey defrosting and cooking guide.

http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthydiet/seasonsandcelebrations/winter/saferchristmaseating/

Many Welsh organic food producers were honoured at a prestigious annual awards ceremony in Cardiff on 24th November. Caws Cenarth Cheese scooped top prizes in the Farm Producer of the Year category as well as Best Organic Product, while Bacheldre Mill won the True Taste Innovation in Packaging award for their flour. Other winners in the organic award categories were:

Best Organic Product – Meat
Gold Award: Wild Boar Bacon/Gammon, Harmony Herd
Silver Award: Organic Sirloin of Lamb, Welsh Farm Organics
Bronze Award: Organic Leg of Mutton, Organic Aran Lamb

Best Organic Product – Dairy/Other
Gold Award: Cenarth Caerffili, Caws Cenarth Cheese
Silver Award: Stoneground Strong Malted 5 Seed Flour, Bacheldre Mill
Bronze Award: Organic Shiitake Mushrooms, Crai Organics