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The European Commission has launched the European Union's
new Organic Farming Campaign at the Foire de Libramont agricultural
fair in Belgium.
Under the campaign slogan - 'Organic farming. Good for
nature, good for you' - the promotional campaign aims
to inform consumers about the meaning and benefits of organic
farming and food production. The campaign will focus on increasing
consumer awareness and recognition of organic products - and
especially on young people and children to carry the organic
idea into the future.
“Consumer demand for organic products is growing, offering
increased business opportunities for all sectors of the food
supply chain. In launching this campaign, I call on all stakeholders
involved in organic farming to promote the organic idea with
the help of the new campaign slogan - 'Organic Farming.
Good for nature, good for you' - said Mariann Fischer
Boel, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development.
In the last few years, the number of organic operators -
farmers, producers, processors and importers - has grown strongly.
In 2005, there was a total of 182,305 of these operators in
the EU-25 - a 13.4 percent increase from 2004. In recent years,
the European organic retail market has experienced strong
growth of between 5 and 30 percent, depending on the country.
Increasing consumer demand is strengthening the organic market
and giving farmers and processors new opportunities.
At the launch of the campaign, the Commission announced a
competition to develop a new organic farming logo. In addition,
the Commission unveiled the centrepiece of the EC campaign
- the new multilingual website for organic farming - Click
Here - containing an electronic 'toolbox' that
provides marketing materials in 22 languages free of charge
to professionals throughout the entire food and farming sector
in order to promote organic production and farming.
The Organic Farming Campaign was developed with an umbrella-style
approach that serves the interests of organic operators within
the EU and empowers them to actively promote organic farming.
The Commission created the campaign in cooperation with the
Experts group for the promotion of organic agriculture. The
national experts include representatives from national ministries
for agriculture as well as national and international associations
working with organic farming and production.
The campaign is launched within the framework of the European
Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming. This action
plan sets out 21 initiatives for developing the organic food
market and improving standards by increasing efficiency and
transparency and, thereby, increasing consumer confidence.
For more information on the Organic Farming Campaign - 'Organic
farming. Good for nature, good for you' - and print-quality
visual materials and images - Click
Here
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