March 19, 2008 - The Organic Trade Association in Canada (OTA) is encouraged by Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz's suggestion on Monday that new federal programs will support farmers interesting in "going organic".
As the Canadian organic market booms with annual growth above 20 per cent, the need for more farmers to transition into organic production methods is a real concern. OTA in Canada is calling on the federal government to go one step further and identify organic farming as part of its environmental "green plan".
"It's time to take a new look at organic farming in terms of what it can do for farmers, the environment and the Canadian economy," said Matthew Holmes, managing director of OTA in Canada, in a press release. "Organic products now make up a significant part of the overall food sector, and organic farming offers a rare success story for Canadian agriculture." But more is needed, says Holmes: the Canadian government should also consider organic farming an environmental priority as it introduces new measures to address climate change.
Recent studies out of Canada, the U.S. and E.U. have found organic farming, when compared to other production practices, can be more energy efficient, absorb more carbon into the soil from the atmosphere, increase biodiversity, and reduce the "nutrient loading" of excess nitrogen and other harmful residues in soil and water.
A group of the country's 11 largest environmental and conservation organizations, including the David Suzuki Foundation and the Sierra Club Canada, also recently released a report on climate change which identified support for organic farming as an environmental priority.
One barrier to continued growth of the organic sector has been a lack of coordinated support for transitioning into organic farming. Last year, OTA launched HowToGoOrganic.com, to help North American farmers and processors find information on transitioning to organic production.
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