The International Federation of Organic Ag- a social and cultural obligation. This accords with The Organic riculture Movements (IFOAM), founded in 1972, a conservation and ecological view that looks on Farming Movement is the main international umbrella organization as a restorer and steward of natural and includes most of the organic-oriented grower, resources, coincident with a reduced dependency in Europe processor, and marketing associations as well as on technology. The view is that the production research and consumer-advocate groups. A cycle of a farm should become, as far as possible, “Continental Section” of the IFOAM has recently a “closed circuit” to recycle and reemploy the Silviero Sansavini1 and been established in Europe; it features several maximum amounts of organic elements, biomass, 2 subsections covering large regional areas such as and waste products generated by livestock and Joerg Wollesen the Mediterranean. The IFOAM is proving to be an crop operations. essential instrument for disseminating reliable For their part, consumers are captivatingly information and developing a common “natural- attached to a rustic and romantic concept of ag- organic” approach to agricultural and environ- riculture and rural areas. They tend to imbue an mental issues. ideal agriculture with the principles of organic Additional index words. history, The objective of this survey is neither to farming and attribute, by association, genuineness regulation, organizations, systems, catalog techniques nor debate the and healthfulness to “organic” produce. Organic research experimental basis for the moment, but rather to producers in certain sectors have reaped benefits provide an overview of the present position of the in terms of market niches they have carved for organic movement in Europe as it relates to mar- themselves, as shown by the distribution net- ket-oriented organic farms managed under main- works and hundreds of organic (mainly or only) Introduction stream economic criteria. retail outlets that have sprung up in the more developed European countries. In addition, the Organic farming is a topic of marked interest Development of organic farming organic movement is associated with positive ef- in Europe today. The term “organic farming” is in Europe fects on consumer dietary habits typified by a currently used to indicate those methods of crop reduced intake of calories, processed foods, red and livestock production that seek to reduce out- A rough idea of the increasing importance of meat, and animal fat and an increase in fruits and side energy inputs (some proponents would even organic farming can be gleaned from estimates vegetables. Yet, while the introduction of organic include modern technology) as much as possible made from the few data collected by scholars foods by certain large supermarket chains (e.g., and to eliminate synthetic chemicals from the (especially Lampkin, 1990; see Table 1). They IRMA in Denmark and Safeway in the United agricultural ecosystems. The aim is to reestablish show that the average organic-crop area in the Kingdom) has promoted their sales to the main- an integral bond of agriculture with nature. The European Community (EC) as compared with total stream consumer, other chains have encountered roots of the organic movement are ancient (see crop area ranges from 0.1% in Spain and Portugal problems. R.F. Korcak’s paper in this Workshop), but the to 0.4% in Germany and the Netherlands to 0.6% The prices consumers are willing to pay for current reformulation is traceable to events initi- in Denmark. Slightly more than 10,000 farms are these products, even without credible, certified ated in Europe during the first half of the 20th involved overall, or a total of »200,000 ha. These labels, average »30% over the standard (although century. These include the principles of figures are certainly not high in absolute terms, but 50% to 100% for certain products is not uncom- biodynamics as embodied in the Anthroposophical neither are they negligible, considering the strong mon), a difference that is especially notable in Society founded by of Austria in motivating forces and the determination of the such sectors as dairy, cereals and legumes, veg- 1912, which currently operates through an inter- practitioners and the interest they have generated etables, and, to a much lesser extent, fruits. The national foundation called “Demeter”; biological in consumers, who are increasingly attracted to the few reliable surveys published so far suggest that farming (based on organic and microbiological concept of “organic.” production costs are higher in terms of labor but concepts) propounded by Müller and Rusch of It should be stressed that the development of lower in terms of technological input, with the Switzerland in the 1950s; the importance of organic organic farming can be seen as a spontaneous overall unit-cost usually being higher because of compost and lime-rich algae put forth by the phenomenon linked to “crop reconversions” that a drop in per-unit yields compared with conven- Lemaire and Boucher of France; green manure, growers have gradually undertaken almost without tional agriculture (when the latter’s goal is to polyspecies pasturage, and advocated government subsidies. Still, only a few European maximize output). by Howard and Balfour of England in the 1940s; countries have enacted specific legislation re- and the role of organic composts championed by garding organic farming: France (since 1980) Organic farming in Europe Draghetti of Italy in the 1950s. Austria, Denmark, Italy (regional only), and, to a These ideas have enjoyed a resurgence since certain extent, Spain, Norway, Finland, and the the 1970s and have spawned several active move- United Kingdom. These measures include crop ments attracting a limited but enthusiastic and standards, regulatory agencies and certification tenacious group of adherents. Yet, with the ex- schemes, provisions for economic incentives, and ception of , the movement’s the promotion or creation of specific extension Belgium various strands tend in effect to converge about the services. The Belgian situation is complex. It is domi- common denominator of “organic/biological In deciding whether to embrace certain tenets nated by the ASBL-Biogarantie, the umbrella or- farming”-the result of a process of regulatory of organic farming, ethical and emotional factors ganization charged with granting trademarks to uniformity that also is driven by market forces. that strongly color the attitudes of growers and member companies, As of 1990 there were four consumers are often considered before proven established groups: UNAB-Nubila, Probila-Unitiab, l technical reports and positive economic perfor- Nature et Progres, and Velt. There is still no Istituto di Coltivazioni Arboree, Univ. of Bologna, mance. Some growers are willing to risk part of specific legislation except for an “Arret Royal” 40126 Bologna, Italy. their crop and profits (not to mention professional regulating the advertising of organically grown 2Villa Belvedere, 2505 Desenzano (Bs), Italy. reputation) in the conviction that they are fulfilling products.

HortTechnology • Apr./June 1992 2(2) Table 1. Organic farming in Europe.z

zSource: Okologie-Landbau, 78, 1991. p. 55. yProbably overestimated. xData not available.

Denmark produce grown with chemical fertilizers or treated are now being extended to processing and market- The country’s first legislative measure con- with , yet marketed under the Ministry of ing. The list of agencies (Table 2) includes Demeter cerning “ecological agriculture” was enacted in Agriculture’s official AB (“organic farming”) logo. (biodynamic farming), a rather complex umbrella 1987 and included the establishment of a Council Since Dec. 1988 the Ministry has attempted to organization covering various operational groups: for Ecological Agriculture. The act makes provi- remedy this situation by making it compulsory for Bioland (organic farming), Biokreis (organic group sions for product identification, a national regula- all organic farmers to join one of the officially of eastern Bavaria), Naturland (natural farming), tory agency, subsidies for farm conversion (1500 approved associations. Despite this measure, and ANOG (Movement for Natural Growing of Horti- to 2200 DKr/ha the first year, 800 to 1180 the the fact that infractions of the law carry fines as cultural Crops), and BOW (National Federation of second, and 300 to 420 the third), and research high as 250,000 francs and prison terms up to 2 Ecological Viticulture). These six groups in turn funding. years, the problem has not been fully eradicated, make up AGOL, the Consortium for Ecological and the sanctioning power of some associations Agriculture established in 1988, to which two France may be revoked. Indeed, new local oversight recently founded associations, Neukoba (certified Act 80/502, dated 7 Apr. 1980, represents agencies, like COMAC, are being set up regionally organic farming), and Bola (a federation for eco- the first law enacted by a European country on to monitor growers and processors. These issues logical agriculture) have applied for membership. organic farming, defined simply as “agriculture underscore the fact that the French system is an Each of these eight groups has its own logo that without the use of synthetic chemicals.” Its pro- honor system requiring self-discipline from all also serves as a trademark. visions include financial assistanceand a national members of the regulatory associations involved The members of these associations are re- regulatory commission to oversee the adoption in the organic pipeline. quired to observe a regulatory code or specific and enforcement of production or processing The first organic fruit plantations in the guidelines concerning production, processing, or standards through an association acting as guar- southern part of the country have limited production distribution depending on the type of organization. antor. To date, 14 such intermediary associations at the moment (e.g., barely 100 t·year–1 in the Gard, For its part, the association which charges a small have been established, each with its own specific 200 t in the eastern Pyrenees). They emphasize percentage of billings as a membership fee, pro- regional or national regulatory code: the ABF, apricot, cherry, peach, plum, strawberry, table vides extension or consulting services, market ANAAB, CINAB, COMAC, EAP, FESA, FNAB, grape, and kiwifruit. The most important monitor- oversight and product promotion, and consumer FNDCB, GGPAB, SIMPLES, SNAS, SOCOTEC, ing bodies are Nature et Progres, Terre et Vie, information. It also conducts one or two field UNIA, UNITRAB. Worthy of note in this connection Biofranc, Bioplampac, France Nature, UNIA, and inspections yearly and can decide whether to carry is the establishment of the ACAB, a national ex- Demeter. There are many special wholesale and out further investigations, for example by com- tension association, which in turn founded retail operations. A privately funded organic farm- missioning private laboratories to run tests. If the ECOCERT, a certification board for organic prod- ing research group called Groupe de Recherche en findings are negative, the association issues a ucts The board, which acts on applications re- Agriculture Biologique (GRAB) has recently been statement that is not a quality warranty but that ceived, currently boasts a clientele of >2500 formed, and it co-organized a workshop on organic certifies only that the produce meets organic- growers and 300 marketing firms or information agriculture with ACAB (ACAB-GRAB, 1990). procedurecriteria. The IFOAM reserves the right to services. It has not been easy overcoming the check that organic procedures are in compliance Germany diffident stance of French consumers vis-à-vis so- via a special monitoring panel. The German gov- called organic products. In Germany, there are eight oversight agen- ernment plays no oversight role, at least as long as The demanding nature of the French market cies that monitor the organic farming activities and national legislation is not enacted to impose man- can be seen in the press exposes of fraud involving practices of their members. Regulatory policies datory standards.

HortTechnology - Apr./June 1992 2(2)