That was the key question at the recent launch of the research partnership between the Irish Organic Milk Producers and Shannon Applied Biotechnology Centre Research (ABC) in the Limerick Institute of Technology.

The Irish Organic Milk Producers Ltd consists of 14 certified organic dairy farmers who have been involved in the organic sector for almost a quarter of a century. Pat Mulrooney Chairperson of the group stated that “as farmers using organic methods we have a thorough knowledge of the high quality of our product before it leaves the farm gate. However once our product leaves the farm gate we have no control over it. It is therefore important that as the primary producers we maintain control over our product by adding value to it. This research partnership will prove the benefits of organic milk and allow us to advertise and market our unique product to consumers”.

Trevor Sargent TD, also spoke at the launch and stressed how important the organic dairy sector had been in other European countries such as Austria in leading the way for the development of the organic sector as the high demand for dairy products convinced a lot of dairy farmers to convert to organic production. “We in government are committed to the development of the organic sector and my colleague Kieran Cuffe is looking forward to working in this area. In 2009 we invested €8.7million in the organic sector and we will continue to invest to ensure that the sector expands to reach its full potential”. [Read more…]

IOA feels that the decision by the European Commission to give the green light to the commercial cultivation of the contentious genetically modified potato “Amflora” is moving the EU in the wrong direction.

Produced by German chemical giant BASF, the Amflora potato is designed to be rich in starch as an alternative thickening agent for paper, adhesives and textiles. However as far back as 2006 the ESFA themselves stated that “there is no guarantee that these potatoes will not enter the food chain”. The fact that “Amflora” carries an anti-biotic resistant gene will have major consequences if this potato does enter the food chain.

The data emerging from the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) where GM crops have been cultivated commercially since 1996, shows that pesticide application to GM crops has increased by 27% in the last ten years making GM crops extremely expensive to produce both from the farmers perspective and also from an environmental perspective. The end result is crops which are very expensive to produce and crops which consumers don’t want to eat. [Read more…]