Real Agriculture.com Real Agriculture
Courtesy of Agrifoodforum.com
There’s no doubt that there are significant rules and regulations in place that farmers must follow in order to certify their production as organic. Canada has a rigourous organic standard, and organic farmers typically take several years to fully transition to the production system. In turn, Canadian consumers have more organic choices in supermarkets than ever before, and the organic industry — worth billions in Canada alone — continues to grow each year.
There are, however, a few problems with the Canadian organic regulatory system, problems that are likely impacting organic growers’ marketing potential. That’s according to Mischa Popoff and his colleague Patrick Moore who have co-authored a recent paper released by The Frontier Centre for Public Policy that points out a rather large hiccup in the system. In short, organic produce and food, while tested regularly by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to ensure it meets Canada’s food safety standards, is not held to any more stringent standard than conventional production.
In this interview, RealAgriculture.com’s editor, Lyndsey Smith, asks Mischa why the gap in testing exists, how it’s hurting Canada’s organic growers and what, if anything, can be done to remedy the situation.
For more on the paper entitled “Canada’s Organic Nightmare,” click here.
If you cannot see the embedded video, click here.
