Hey Guys,
This is the first time in almost 2 months since I posted articles.... but I have a huge excuse. I was busy giving birth to a beautiful little boy named Enzo. He was born at home in water in the most non-violent way and completely natural. It was a great experience for him and I, but also for my husband and the beautiful 5 women who were with me to assist the birth.
Anyhow, I'm back, probably irregularly, but I'm back!!
Here, enjoy the below article - THIS IS GREAT NEWS!
An organic farming advocate says the industry is suffering something akin to growing pains in Australia, partly because supermarkets are increasingly stocking the produce.
Dr Andrew Monk, from the Biological Farmers of Australia, says the big supermarket chains have put organic meat, fruit and vegetables within reach of more consumers.
"More availability has meant more sales, it's been as simple as that. And that, in turn, has led to producers then thinking we should produce and supply into that space," he said.
"There's opportunities there, but the challenge is always in an emerging market like ours that there's always winners and losers.
"There's a bit of attrition going on.
"There's been some people leaving the industry, even though overall there's been net growth both in terms of producer numbers and, more interestingly, in average size of farm and average turnover."
Dr Monk says the industry is seeing a demographic shift at the producer end.
"In the past, you probably saw less traditional, multi-generation farming families move into the organic space, it tended to be almost innovators from the city," he said.
"These days you're seeing more normal, if you want to call it that, people in the farming sector or the retail sector picking up this idea of organic and saying we might be able to build a business model around this."
But Dr Monk says there is still a place for the smaller, niche producers in organics, and the diversity of the industry is one of its strenths.
"The good thing, I think, for the organic industry is that we are very diverse in market outlet," he said.
"There's also been a growth in farmers markets and direct to consumer produce marketing, as well as the significant growth of volumes into the supermarket chains."
Dr Monk says only 1 per cent of the food sold in shops in Australia is considered organic and that lags behind Europe and the US, which average 2 to 3 per cent.
He says that's because some of the food contamination scares that've happened overseas have not occurred here.
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