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The UK government has one standard, but the Soil Association, in on their web site say “Our standards not only meet the UK government’s minimum requirements but in many areas are higher.” They add that their “symbol is the UK’s largest and most recognisable trademark for organic produce.”

They continue “wherever you see it you can be sure that the food you have purchased has been produced and processed to strict animal welfare and environmental standards. The Soil Association has probably the highest and most comprehensive standards for organic production and processing in the world.

This is particularly true with animal welfare (for example, pigs and poultry) and the use of pesticides.

We can do this because we are an independent charity and are not motivated by profit – our goal is to promote the highest levels of organic integrity.

We have also developed standards for areas not covered by government or EU regulations. These include conservation, fish farming, textiles and health and beauty products.”

This is not just in the area of food they are also concerned about:

• Shops and other retailers
• Restaurants, bars and cafés
• Health and beauty products
• Clothing and textiles
• Gardening products like composts
• Timber and wood products
• Ethical Trade

They say: “We aim to set the ‘gold standard’ for the organic industry and have led the way in developing high organic standards. We want to ensure that Soil Association standards meet consumer expectations, reflect the best sustainable practice and become a benchmark for organic production globally.”

They have done this by setting up Standard Committees, which constantly reviews their standards to keep them up to date and to deal with new issues. They do not just operate in the UK but in other countries as well. They say:

“The Soil Association also works actively at national, European and international levels with the aim of achieving consistently high organic standards across all bodies and authorities. For example we were a founder member of, and continue to play a leading role within, the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM).”

It can be seen from this that to be Organic is much more than just eating food grown in a certain manner. It is a whole lifestyle. This was what the owner of a large organic shop in Bristol said to a reporter who told him that people were cutting back on buying organic food as they were a luxury. He said he had not experienced it in his shop.

One way you can be sure in the UK that something meets the highest organic standards is buy looking for the Soil Association symbol, but what about places where they are not operating? How do you ensure that it is? That is the subject of the next post.