Proposals suggesting organic livestock farmers should be
allowed to relax feed standards during the economic downturn have
been rejected bySoil
Associationmembers.
A three-week long
consultation
by the association suggested that livestock could be fed cheaper,
non-organic feed while the market for organic food was
depressed.
If the proposals had been accepted, during the so-called
"organic holiday", farms would have retained their Soil Association
status but would not have been allowed to market produce as
organic.
However, almost three-quarters of respondents opposed the idea,
fearing it could undermine public confidence.
Anna Bradley, chairman of the Soil Association standards board,
said: "The board agreed that making ad hoc changes of this sort
would damage the integrity of the standards and could rock consumer
confidence.
"Consumers expect 'Soil Association Organic' to stand for the
highest quality in organic food and that is a reputation the
standards board wants to retain," Ms Bradley said.
The 180 responses to the consultation were mainly from organic
farmers who also pointed out that relaxing livestock standards
could damage the feed market and the arable farm businesses which
supplied it.