THE ORGANIC SUPERMARKET: onwards, upwards and eastwards too...

Oliver Moore: Tell me about the Organic Supermarket Darren.

Darren Grant: I opened the Organic Supermarket on July 14th 2008 in Blackrock Dublin, at the height of the recession. By 2009, we started to push the online store, as we could see that the high street model was dying somewhat. Currently, we have an annual turnover of about E800,000 per year, with 20% of it through our website, and the rest through the store.


OM: What do you stock, and does it differ from the store to the website?

DG: We stock 3000 individual price units in store, and about half that on line. We do all the photography and descriptions ourselves. We'd like to revamp the site too – its won a lot of awards, but, to my mind, it needs an upgrade at this stage.

On line, we can't do chilled or frozen yet, as we deliver overnight. We are going to roadtest same day and evening deliveries soon though. When we do, the whole chilled and frozen areas, including all the dairy range and meats, will come into play.

OM: How do you market what you sell online?

DG: Our focus in marketing online has moved from newsletter and email over to a heavy focus on social media. We have 20,500 followers on facebook and 4000 on twitter. We see a direct turnaround from social media into sales, certainly. We've been shortlisted for the social media awards 2013.

OM: So how do you get the best of of Social Media?

DG: Some of our most innovative social media ideas come from our weekly team meeting.We have used the hive or swarm intelligence of our customers really well. We we at a loss to come up with a competition to run on line, so we decided to run a competition to ask people what our competition should be. The best three were to get a E100, E50 and E50 worth of shopping with us. It went totally viral, over 40,000 people shared it online. There was so little financial outlay for this reach. Plus, we have a year's competition themes now.

We also did a fun one that really went viral – guess the number of beans in the jar. 37,000 people shared that one. This week we're running one on our new slogan. Its about talking and interacting with customers; its not budget driven, its about clever, interacting engaging ideas.

OM: You have started to build an organic supermarket business in Taiwan  How did that come about?

DG: Euronews contacted us, as they wanted to do a half hour feature on a microfinance success story. We were turned down by the bank when we started up, but got E25,000 from First Steps microfinance. The programme was translated into 18 languages. This then when into, more or less, every hotel room in the world. And that's where Taiwanese investors saw the Organic Supermarket, and thought it would work in their country.

So they then made contact, flew over to Ireland, and loved our setup. I've been over quite a few times. We're opening a store on 30th June in Taipei city. We start shipping containers of organic produce over to Taiwan towards the end of the month. We plan to open three stores in the next three years, and also to have a strong online retail presence over there.

They are screaming out for western, organic products over there, and there's no recession on there either. Its a big task, translating labels, dealing with a completely different culture and distribution. There are few ex-pats there. It takes six weeks to ship, so its only some products that can go from here to there.

Next post, Darren talks about which products are working, and  which aren't the organic sector.

WHY ARE THE ORGANIC FARMS OF IRELAND WHERE THEY ARE?

Where are the organic farms of Ireland, and why are they where they are?

This is the question Doris Lapple and John Cullinan addressed in their 2012 research, published in Irish Geography.

 (why not comment on whether they got this right, wrong or inbetween the old fashioned way-  in the blog comments, and not _just_ on twitter or facebook!?!)

Their study focused on policy, agricultural systems, soil quality, market access, information provision and the influence of neighbouring organic farmers on the location of organic farms.

They found evidence of three main spatial clusters. Two are obvious, while one is perhaps less so: there's the Leitrim Roscommon border region, West Cork, and also county Limerick. Donegal and Mayo had the fewest organic farms.

The researchers state: “While certain agricultural systems and soil qualities provide favourable conversion conditions, regional supports, information provision and the impact of pioneering organic farmers may influence spatial clustering of organic farming.”

So what has worked in increasing the number of organic farms in particular areas? Policy support has had an influence. This is, importantly, a regional phenomenon:

“The high uptake rate of organic farming in the Shannon region (Co. Clare and Co. Limerick) is associated with support for organic farming provided by Shannon Development and the
LEADER programme in those counties. This additional support for organic farming was based on promotion, payment of organic association membership fees and marketing information provided by newsletters. Indeed, the high uptake rate of organic farming in those counties indicates that proactive interventions can cause more rapid expansion of organic agriculture”

Agricultural system also plays a part: “Due to their extensive nature, many beef and sheep (drystock) farms in particular can easily adjust to organic production, with relatively little entry costs and alterations in farm management or agronomic practices.”

They also cite the lack of organic milk processing options, and related logistical transportation difficulties, as possibly contributing to the small number of organic dairy farms.

Land quality emerged as of mixed importance. Permanent grassland regions score well, while tillage regions score poorly. Also, very poor land is typified by very low rates of organic farms, while good land usually signifies above average numbers of organic farms.

“Limerick has a much higher proportion of good agricultural land (47%), which is suited for tillage and grassland. Counties Cork and Waterford also have a high uptake rate of organic farming and are characterised by a large proportion of good agricultural land...While the counties with a high uptake rate of organic farming generally have a high proportion of good or moderate land quality, counties with a very low uptake rate of organic farming (i.e. Co. Donegal and Co. Mayo) are characterised by a large proportion of poor quality land.”

Access to markets may play a role: “Most of the counties with a main organic livestock outlet have an above average uptake rate...furthermore, many of the adjoining counties also have a high concentration of organic farms” they state, siting the example of south Leitrim north Roscommon.

Leitrim is a good example of the combined effects of factors:

“while the evidence suggests that regionally-provided information and support of organic farming can contribute to spatial clustering (e.g. in Co. Leitrim), this information provision must exist in combination with favourable conversion conditions (e.g. soil quality or agricultural systems suited for conversion), in order to be effective in increasing the uptake of organic farming.”

(Leitrim is listed as having moderate land quality in the paper)

Leitrim also, along with west Cork, points to the importance of pioneers (migrants who moved to these regions in the 1970s and 1980s) and neighbours. Having a successful organic farmer next door or locally influences more farmers to consider organic farming, they point out.

“This ‘neighbourhood effect’ is stronger at the early stages of the diffusion process, since organic farming becomes more ‘normal’ as diffusion progresses.”

They conclude by pointing to the confluence of factors needed to develop the sector, as well as the regionally-specific supports that can also help.

So folks, thoughts? Did they get this right? Leitrim as moderate land? Did the mart/markets come first or the organic farms? See also here for my own previous on history of organics in Ireland (excuse the tech illiterate formatting, but the info is top notch!)

FODDER CRISIS AND ORGANIC FARMERS

How is the fodder crises affecting organic farmers? Oliver Moore investigates.

The fodder crisis, so severe for farmers all over Ireland, is effecting organic farmers in a more varied manner.

Limerick organic dairy farmer John Liston tells me about the situation for him on his 80 hectare 50 milking cow farm.

Along with the lower stocking rate, “its a later spring in organic. Conventional lads have grass by Patrick day, but in organic its April before we have grass”

Liston still bought in over 6 tonnes of nuts, but hasn't had to resort to bought in silage until the end of April.

“You tend to be a little self sufficient in organic, with the high cost of feed” he adds. “So its typical to grow kale for winter, or arable silage with peas in it for protein. The organic concentrate price hasn't risen that much compared to conventional, but it was already very high.”

Nevertheless, grass is a month late and Spring milkers are finding it harder than Winter milkers, as the latter “are geared up for buying in feed” he says.

Further west, into north Kerry its a different story. Higher rainfall and an already wet soil has made for a disastrous time for both conventional and organic farmers.

In organic dairy farmer Kate Carmody's (pictured) experience, the whole region has suffered. “The land was sinking under the weight of water. We have a good soil, but its a heavy gley subsoil. It become impossible. I ploughed up a large area to put grass seeds in, and it was left idle for the whole year.”

Carmody is angry the Department have taken so long to realise that there is actually a fodder crises.

Following a statement by organic certification body IOFGA last October, farmers were encouraged to apply early for derogations if they felt they had a case – that's once off rule changes in catastrophic or disastrous situations.

“I alerted the Department last September of the troubles me and other farmers in north Kerry were having. There was silage left uncut in the fields. The Department knew about this, and yet I had to weight 4 months for a derogation.”

In the four months she waited to get a derogation to use a hay that was free of synthetic inputs and fertilizer, her feed bill was “crippling”.

“'Catastrophic circumstances' are needed for a derogation. We had that. My derogation was the first one in, but it still took months. I don't take no for an answer, so I get these things done, but a lot of vulnerable people don't know how to fight their corner. The Department have really disappointed me, they are all nice when they arrive, but they are just box tickers. This is an emergency.”

Carmody also adds that “organic payments were the last payments to be made in Kerry.” Again, belligerence helped, she claims.

Both certification bodies claim to have been acting early to try to avert the worst extremes of this crises.

“Last October IOFGA did issue a press statement urging farmers to plan ahead for their fodder requirements as we anticipated potential shortages. In the intervening period IOFGA have worked with farmers to match demand with supply. This has been relatively successful and we have managed to assist a number of farmers in this way.”

However, they add “In recent weeks... fodder prices have risen exponentially which is extremely worrying for the coming months”.

They also encourage producers to contact them if they have difficulties sourcing fodder.

Organic Trust “have been working with our farmers to identify those with surplus fodder and linking them up with those who are in deficit. To date this approach has proven very successful thereby ensuring that animals in the organic system can continue to be fed an organically certified diet.”

ORGANIC MARKET IN IRELAND THE UK 2013

How is the organic market faring in Ireland, the UK and elsewhere? Oliver Moore delves in.

The future is online, when it comes to organic sales in the UK. That's according to the most recent organic market report 2013 from the UK's Soil Association.

The majority of Irish organic produce exports still go to the UK. Despite increases in the EU and indeed tentative increases in the global markets, the UK is still both dominant and vital for Irish organic exports.

Incredibly, an online only retailer now has larger sales of organic produce that either Morrisons or even the Walmart-owned ASDA.


On line retailers Ocado are now the 4th largest organic retailer in the UK. In a noteworthy move within the on line category, Riverford and also Abel and Cole, primarily vegetable box schemes, also saw massive sales growth.

Combined, Ocado, Abel & Cole and Riverford saw a 10.3% increase in organic produce sales overall.

About 10% of organic produce is now sold through on-line retail outlets, nearly twice the rate of conventional sales.

Riverford are an innovative social franchise, where farmers sell with just one main intermediary. This Riverford franchisee (the intermediary), is employed by the mark up generated by the delivery system.

Supermarkets have, however, fallen out of love somewhat with organic. Taking a bottom line only approach, it seems they have failed to take account of potential loyalty to organic food those customers have. Thus, many lines have been discontinued by the UK's multiple retailers in expectation of declines in sales.

Overall organic sales in the UK are down 1.5%, as supermarkets do still dominate the distribution and sales of organic of produce. Sales are down 2.4% in Supermarkets, when counted as a distinct retail outlet. Sales of supermarket own-label ranges fell by a whopping 11.2% in 2012, with only the high-end Waitrose showing a small increase (1.1%).

However Sainsbury’s saw its online organic sales increase by a remarkable 48%.

Overall UK sales were down 3.4% according to the previous Soil Association report. After the highs of the 2000-2008 period, 2009 saw a major crash in sales in organics in the UK. The latest two years of figures, along with other reports, such as the Co-op report in December 2012, point to overall organic sales approaching stability.

Other positives for the organic market include:

• European and global market increases: global organic market is up 25% over the past three years.
• The under 35s significantly increased their average spending on organic products in the UK in 2012.
• The organic dairy sector, non-food and catering are also showing a positive uplift.
• The food service sector is opening up rapidly in the UK, especially through the Food for Life Catering Mark.
• Box scheme, home-delivery and mail-order sales increased by 4.4% to £174.3 million, while independent retailers grew slightly, to now command £480.6 million of the overall £1.64 billion UK organic market.

And then there is the effect of scandals. Traditionally, the organic sector has always grown when a conventional food scandal occurs. It seems the ongoing horsemeat scandal is no different.

Monthly figures supplied by Kantar Worldpanel show in February 2013 that total UK supermarket organic sales increased to their highest level in 9 months. February sales increased 8.4% over January.

Some independent organic meat suppliers in the UK have also reported an increase in sales of up to 20% over the past month.

All of these dynamics, when taken together, point to supermarkets jumping the gun on the supposed end of organics in the UK, and most other sectors benefiting.

In many cases, the producer benefits from a rise in these more direct routes to market.

And in any case, few producers will shed a tear to see supermarket power over the organic sector decline, however slightly. (Though Irish exporters find UK supermarkets easier to deal with for scale product)

How does all of this compare to the organic market in Ireland?

Ireland mirrors the UK in many ways, for a variety of historical, cultural, economic, geographic and demographic reasons.

Organic food and drink sales are no different. Unlike the rest of Europe, the UK and Ireland have seen sales stall and then slightly decline over the recession years.

Slowly but steadily, more and more Irish organic produce is being sold not in the UK but in mainland Europe.

For this reason, a real emphasis has been placed on Biofach – the annual organic food and natural living trade show - the biggest of which is held in Germany each Spring. Thirteen Irish organic food and drink producers participated in February, and this has been the 5th year of Irish companies attending the trade show.

According to Eileen Bentley of Bord Bia, Biofach generated “approximately €400k of new business was generated by exhibitors on the Irish stand” in 2012.

For 2013, “we wait 6 months to do the new sales tally - typically, this is the earliest period business leads will translate into new sales post a trade fair. However, there was good interest in the organic seafood offerings in particular and a majority of exhibitors felt the show was an important platform for them to meet existing customers and potential new buyers.”

She adds “Maintaining existing business through participation at the event is an important objective for many exhibitors also”.

I asked about data from Irish organic food and drink exports. As agri-food in Ireland is so export focused, surely its important to understand how this market is actually developing?

“I don't have an overall figure for the value of Irish organic exports” she tells me. “At present, we have not broken organic down into a category in its own right within Bord Bia's annual export review...We would need to survey current organic exporters to get a topline figure of export values. If the Organic Focus Committee prioritise this for the coming year, we will undertake this on their behalf.”

Closer to home, Kantar Worldpanel figures for organic sales in Ireland for the year ending 2012 show an overall market value of almost €100 million. The market declined in value by 3.5% compared to the previous year although yoghurts, fresh meat and biscuits gained market share and demonstrated growth versus 2011.

Organic yoghurt has increased from 17% in 2010 to 24% of the overall Irish organic market. This reflects marketing spend and availability, both of which are considerable for the category.

Organic vegetable market share is up slightly on 2010, while organic milk market share is down.

Like in the UK, overall market decline was very significant in the earlier years of the recession (2008/2009), but this decline has slowed. Sales were almost E105 million at end of year 2010, E103.5 million 2011, and just over E97 million in 2012.

According to Kantar data pre-family, older dependents and empty nesters are the key demographics for organic food sales in Ireland now. This most likely reflects the recessionary squeeze on families, though young families are increasing their percentage again from 2011 to 2012, after a decline in 2010. Families in the 40+ category have declined each year since 2010.

Other key facts from the Kantar data include:

• Shoppers buy organic food on average 21 times a year
• 91% of the population have bought organic with the majority buying an organic yoghurt
• Organic Vegetables are the largest single market worth over €25 million. Organic Fruit is worth just over €8.5m.
• The typical spend on organic over the year was €66.40 - €1.80 less than last year
• In terms of retailer performance and organic food, Aldi, Tesco and Supervalu have all achieved organic sales growth over the period.

AGROFORESTRY AND ALL THOSE FOOD ISSUES: CLIMATE, NUTRITION, ECOSYSTEM

With a background of the  Food Security Futures and Hunger, Nutrition and Climate Justice events happening last week and this in Dublin, Oliver Moore delves deeper into the issues.

(Note: can you believe, I was the only journalist at the Food Security Future's event? The only one, for the entire two days? That's mad, Ted)

The all too familiar background issues to these events include rising world population, changing wealthy consumer demand towards meat and milk, shrinking land base, tightening of supply of resources, loss of soil fertility, pollution and the already real effects of climate change itself.

This fraught context makes the situation for food security, which is about not just availability, but also accessibility, utilisation and stability, extremely difficult.

While more people are being fed that ever before, hunger, especially in Sub Saharan Africa, has persisted. In fact, as the 2008/09 period showed, when an extra 96 million people were pushed into hunger, hunger comes from price volatility on commodity markets as much as from low yields.

Along with this, up to 2 billion people globally suffer from micro-nutrient deficiency.

The presentations at the Food Security Future's event go some way towards realistically addressing these issues. Frank Place and Alexander Meybeck's paper caught my eye in particular.

Place is from the World Agroforestry Centre, Kenya, which I visited in February. In a number of very significant ways, agroforestry holds answers to many of the problems outlined above.

Agroforestry is about integrating trees and shrubs into food producing systems. These elements work together to provide for a range of needs – fodder, fertility, nutrition, soil structure and yield improvements and also improvements in livelihoods through diversification.

Agroforestry is also affordable. It reduces costs for those, farmers or indeed countries, with very little cash to invest in the first place.

It also represents great value for money for international donors. Irish Aid is one of the biggest international donors to the World Agroforestry Centre in general, and its work in Malawi in particular.

Place's paper sets out some of the key issues. Multi National Corporations have little interest in investing in Africa in general or in hunger alleviation in particular:

Investments by the private sector in the developing world “accounted for only 2 percent of the total world agricultural R&D” in 2000, Place says. (admittedly some years back, but a revealing figure nonetheless).

What's more “in sub-Saharan Africa, the majority of the tiny amount of private R and D is oriented to export crop improvement research such as cotton and sugarcane.” Intellectual property rights are further cutting Corporations off from the neediest in the world.

“A larger role of public actors both in research and development” will be required, he says, “because private-owned technologies are keen to focus on major markets.”

All of this makes public sector investments in agroforestry crucial on a number of fronts.

Place points out that while “specialised systems” (i.e.monocultures) are often presented as profitable and easy to adapt technology towards, “diversifying production can also improve efficiency in the use of land. as is the case in agroforestry systems”... and of nutrients through “the introduction of legumes in the rotation or in integrated crop-livestock or rice-aquaculture systems. Studies show that they can also be more efficient in terms of income, especially if this is measured as an average over a period of several years.”

Through techniques such as the use of fertilizer and fodder trees, agroforestry improves both incomes and productivity: “Agroforestry also helps diversify income sources and provides energy and often fodder for livestock. Nitrogen‐fixing leguminous trees, such as Faidherbia albida, increase soil fertility and yields”.

He continues “thanks to development and community-led projects and relaxed forestry measures that enable farmers to manage their trees, there has been a considerable regeneration of Faidherbia in the Niger through farmer-managed natural regeneration. Agroforestry systems are indeed a key source of nutrients for soils and livestock in dryland systems of the Sahel where use of mineral fertilizer and feed concentrates is very low.”

For more on this topic see here; for Irish agroforestry see here . For an audio report on the Food Security Event, including recording of participants, listen here (and watch out for the  breakfast moment!)

DOES GIY SUPPORT NATIVE IRISH SEEDS?

Is it important for Irish organic growers to source native Irish seeds?

 Let's have a look....

Brown Envelope Seeds (Cork, pic below) and the Irish Seed Savers Association (Clare, pic above) both provide certified organic Irish seeds for growers around Ireland.

SO what about GIY?

At the non-professional end, the whole GIY - grow it yourself - movement has been a phenomenon. Dozens of groups have been set up all over Ireland and thousands have begun to grow some of their own food, helped along by GIY. Their general approach seems to be to promote organic approaches to growing but with a light touch.

I was surprised to find out that GIY's own brand seeds, available on their very popular website, are all sourced abroad. They come from sourced from UK suppliers Kings, CN Seeds and Tuckers and Irish supplier, which imports from the UK and Holland, Europrise.

I spoke to GIY patron Klaus Laitenberger, who's runs the Vegetable Seed Company (in partnership with Quickcrop), which sells the seeds on the GIY site, and with GIY founder Michael Kelly about seeds.

Laitenberger pointed out that if there was an Irish wholesale seed producer, GIY would definitely be interested in stocking the seeds.


“Seeds are of the highest quality and standard and their adaptability to the Irish climate has been tried and tested for many years through trials in probably one of the most difficult growing areas – Leitrim. The ones on this selection is my personal 'best of' - mainly in terms of taste and also disease or pest resistance.”

Interestingly, Latenburger has no issues with hybrids. “I believe it's a bit of a myth that the older the variety is the better it tastes. Some - definitely not all - modern varieties are far more delicious than older ones. A good example is tomato Sungold F1 and Rosada F1. They are probably the nicest tomatoes you'll ever eat. The old standard variety Moneymaker (probably 100 years old) must be the blandest tomato available.”

Michael Kelly added “of course we would prefer people to save their own seeds as a more sustainable approach, but as an organisation our mission is not about encouraging seed saving and more about getting people growing in the first instance. For most GIYers, seed saving is likely to be a second phase, after they have several years of experience under their belt. The idea of seed saving would be daunting to someone who is still trying to acquire basic growing skills.”

However, seed can be purchased from organisations that save seeds, like the Irish Seed Savers. So why none of their seeds on the GIY shop?

Klaus Laitenberger say he certainly appreciates “the use of heritage varieties and other open-pollinated varieties.” He adds “I think GIY and myself are promoting seed saving through articles from various people. I wrote a few articles about saving seeds throughout the last few years I'm also a strong supporter of the Irish Seed Savers and followed and supported their work from the very beginning and of course I would like to see their seeds for sale at the GIY shop.

Michael Kelly of GIY: “We are exploring a link with the Seed Savers at the moment whereby we would resell a selection of their seeds - they need support and we certainly mention their events and services whenever we can.”

He went on to point out that there may be issues at the Irish Seed Saver's end with wholesale quantities and year round availability, as “ the GIY web shop needs to have a comprehensive range all year around”.

However, when I contacted the Irish Seed Savers, they were confident that they could certainly supply a range of seeds at the required quantity and with year round consistency.

So who knows? Maybe soon we'll seed heritage seeds from the Irish Seed Savers on GIY's on line shop soon....

THE ANTI SHOP SHOP: BIOCOOP

Can not giving the consumer choice actually work sometimes? Oliver Moore takes a look at French phenomenon Biocoop.

Not all national retail models are comparable. Ireland, Britain, and the English speaking world in general have a food system dominated by supermarkets.

In the wake of the current food scandal, supermarkets want more vertical control: that's control up and down the chain, from the producer and abattoir to the loyalty card carrying consumer.

However, there is a worry about even more concentration of power in supermarket hands. This is especially a concern in sectors without strong co-ops – where farmers are price takers and not price makers.

In this context, a model worth exploring from France is the Biocoop model.While its hard to compare retail models, if ever there was a time to start to look at things differently, its now.

Franck Bardet spoke at the recent OGI (Organic Growers of Ireland) conference in Birr about Biocoop, which currently sells about 14% of the (ever increasing amount of) organic food sold in the country.

The Biocoop network is not a chain or a franchise but a federation of over 300 independent shops, and also consumer and producer co-operatives with shared ideals, objectives and structures. The federation was founded in 1987, with socio-environmental aims, an emphasis on the need for consumers to be involved in their food purchases more, and procedures for all relationships - with other biocoop stores, with consumers, producers and staff.

This non-supermarket model can have what seem like gloriously anti-sales sales strategies. In fact, the organisation operated more as a cash-and-carry service in its early years, such was the general member's disdain for the retail dynamic.

Wages for top paid staff are capped at are no higher than 4 times the national minimum wage, while lots of produce is deliberately not stocked for environmental, animal welfare or workers' rights' reasons.

And yet, the federation is growing. They currently have about 330 stores, a number that rises by about 15 a year. As an organisation, Biocoop offer assistance at all stages from idea to ongoing support of the shops.

Biocoop have four regional distributional hubs, three of which were the original regional platforms of the movement. Now, these hubs supply about 80% of the produce in the individual store; the rest is sourced locally.

Their focus is on French food – of 21,000 tonnes of fruit and veg, about 13,000 are from France. A policy of replace-with-local-when-available seems to be a key consideration. “At the start and end of the season we bring produce in from Italy and Spain, to keep the price down and increase availability. But once the French product is available, we drop the imports” Bardet says.

They also avoid heated greenhouses; air travel and southern hemisphere foods: “we are waiting for pears right now, as we won't buy from Argentina, where organic pears are available”.

A Groupe-de-Bruges report on Biocoop also pointed out that “In ’93 the first charter was set up and was wider/more strict than the organic regulations themselves – no GM, no artificial flavours, producers had to be selected carefully and their ethics investigated (eg Biocoop won’t buy from organic producers in Almeria in Spain due to their poor treatment of labourers).”

In 2002 it became a formal co-op, so distribution of profits to members became possible.

Biocoop has a number of subsidiaries:
• A transport and distribution company which owns forty 24 tonne trucks;
• A specialist public sector catering supply company;
• A company that helps producers with loans for investment in processing
infrastructure;
• A company to help shops rent and buy premises

Over 700 full time staff equivalent positions are in place in biocoop, while 2500 are employed in the stores. Biocoop also forms alliances with strategic organic and sustainability organisations.

Here in Ireland, we still have some co-op shops. How do they compare to Biocoop?

GROWING IN A DIFFERENT CLIMATE: organic growers gather

“Growing in a Different Climate” is the theme of this year's Organic Growers of Ireland (OGI) conference. The event, to be held in the County Arms Hotel, Birr, is on Wednesday 20th of February.

“Climate change is very pertinent to growers and also something that had not been looked at in any great depth” says Jason Horner of the OGI, organiser of the conference.

(pic copyright Oliver Moore)

“We always try to be practical when we are looking at what information growers will benefit from and rather than speaking about climate change as something that is being looked at in the future maybe we should start addressing it in the present, in that it is already here.”

He adds: “The last time we held a conference it was all growers this time it is all academics and people associated with the industry so it is a different emphasis.”

Topics for presentations include impact of climate change on pests and plants, opportunities presented by climate change to grow new plants, resilience for weather extremes, agroforestry, alternative distribution systems and finally growing well in a bad season.

Cathriona Duffy's research, which opens the event, is the most academic of the offerings.

“The consensus within the scientific community is that our global climate is changing” she tells me. “Over the course of the last century global average surface temperature has increased by approximately 0.74°C. Further temperature increases are projected, as well as more seasonal rainfall and increased frequency of extreme weather events.”

These changes will have an effect on what organic growers can do. “Despite the physical link between agriculture and climate, there has been limited work conducted on the potential impacts of projected temperature, precipitation and atmospheric CO2 changes on economically important agricultural pests in Ireland” she says.

Her talk “will provide a general overview of the potential impacts of future climate change on insect pests, drawing on both international and national examples.”

She continues “Potential changes in plant physiology and phenology in response to increased temperatures and resultant changes in current Irish pests will also be reviewed,” will her talk “concludes by highlighting how changes in the biology of insects in Ireland as a result of climate change will impact organic production, with a view to informing adaptation policy in the future.”

Another presenter is Peter Jones. Jones is a Professor in the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences at University College Cork. He is joint Co-Ordinator of the MSc in Organic Horticulture based at Liss Ard Estate outside Skibbereen in West Cork.

Jones’s research interests focus on improving disease resistance and stress tolerance in crops, by both breeding better cultivars and by using natural products such as seaweed extracts and composted crabshell to switch on defence strategies in crops.

According to Jones “What I intend to describe will be the predicted effects on Irish climate over the coming decades: increasing temperatures in winter and in summer (especially inland), a longer growing season with fewer frosts; altered rainfall patterns with wetter winters, especially in the west and drier summers especially in the east.”

He continues “Ireland should fare better than the countries which are currently the main crop producers of the EU such as France, resulting in new market opportunities for Irish growers.”

“There will be changes in the way we farm” the Welsh native says, “earlier cattle turnout dates, need for irrigation of potatoes in the east. Also, changes in the range of crops we grow, with crops currently associated with Mediterranean-type climate, such as tomatoes, vines, doing much better.”

“Grain maize will begin to take over from the other cereals in Ireland, while forage maize will become a cost-effective alternative to silage. In the latter half of this century, soyabean will become an important crop in Ireland.”

Ever the optimist, event organiser Jason Horner concludes: “With the EU recently advising consumers to eat fruit and vegetables that are not standard shapes, and national promotional campaigns to support local growers, lets hope that 2013 is kinder to our food producers.”

VISIT CLOUGHJORDAN 22ND-24TH FEBRUARY: Co-operative food event & gig!

From Friday to Sunday 22nd to 24th February, there are a number of great events on in Cloughjordan. There's a smallholder event, a co-operative and community food event, and a great fun(d) raising gig on the Saturday night. See below for much more, including full programme at the end on this posting.

TO BOOK CLICK HERE
In the boom times, a sense of community and co-operation seemed to waiver. The focus was on the individual, the personal property portfolio, and other private money making initiatives.

Meanwhile, the co-op movement plodded along. There are almost 1500 registered co-ops in Ireland, and many more companies and organisations with co-operative principles written into their constitution. There are over 300 co-ops in the argi-food, forestry and fisheries area alone.

According to Dr. Olive McCarthy of UCC's Centre for Co-operative studies “Historically, co-ops start out with the aim of achieving a fair price for production, and as hub for community development. An early motto was 'Better farming, Better business, Better living'. However Co-operative consciousness declined by the 1920s”.

Though under-emphasised in the history books, co-operatives were an integral part of the push for independence. After the Land Acts initiated a shift in land ownership and ownership of production, the co-ops initiated a change in distribution. Within a few decades, Irish peasants and small farmers controlled production and distribution of the main asset the land produced – milk. Political independence was just a step after that.

With co-ops, something happens along the way, however. Unless checked, they slowly loose their community focus and become primarily businesses focused, with full time managers ensuring profit. While this does of course have benefits and positives, it also undoubtedly represents a loss too.

So every few decades, the co-op movement reinvents itself. A small step in the process of re-enchanting the co-op, one I am involved in myself, is happening on the 23rd and 24th of this month, in Cloughjordan Tipperary. (a pre-event smallholder and CSA Salon is also on 22nd, see programme below)

There, in the newly built and innovative WeCreate space (see pic)  in the town's ecovillage quarter, “Feeding Ourselves: How communities can benefit from co-operative food systems” will be held.

The aim of the event is to co-learn how a cooperative approach can strengthen and build more resilient and sustainable food systems, while at the same time supporting communities and local economies.

Case studies, presentations and breakout discussions will be held on topics such as community supported agriculture, food coops and buyers clubs, community kitchens, food hubs, community shops, on-line distribution models, community gardens and other local supply and distribution systems.

The format will, aptly, be very participatory. There will not be a sequence of experts pontificate from the podium. Instead, novel organisational techniques will be used to ensure that lots of the expertise in the room emerges and is made available to all.

“If you want to create and support jobs in your area, help secure your food supply, are part of a community that wants to strengthen its local economy, or are a grower looking for a rewarding and potentially profitable way of supplementing your income, this event is for you” says Davie Philip, chair of Cloughjordan Community Farm, which is organising the event.

The event should be of interest to GIY groups, transition towns movements, organic growers who want to learn how to access new markets, community organisations and many more.

The UK's Plunket Foundation are also involved. Mike Perry of the organisation sees this as “an important and timely event which we’re delighted to be part of”. They will bring what they have learned in their experiences with supporting the community food movement in the UK to Ireland.

Plunket were involved with another Tipperary initiative, the Loughmore's community cafe. Representatives of Loughmore will be outlining their initiative, and how it came about, at the event.

RTE's Ella McSweeney will host a panel discussion on the way forward for co-operative approaches to food.

Accommodation is available in the ecovillage's hostel, Djangos (087 2569348).

There is a Cloughjordan Community farm fundraiser Saturday 23rd, featuring the multi nation reggae band Dub Investigation, and the Pressure Drop reggae sound system. (see poster)

Weekend conference tickets are E50, individual sessions are also priced specifically, including an Irish Smallholders Association event on Friday 22nd. (E10 Friday; E35 saturday; E20 sunday) For bookings, email training@cloughjordancommunityfarm.ie or ring Davie on 087 6340697.

TO BOOK: CLICK HERE

Full programme  Feeding Ourselves – Schedule

Friday 
09.00 – 17.00 – Complete Introduction to Smallholding
With Lily de Sylva of the Irish Smallholders Association.
This full-day course covers all aspects of small-scale food production, giving you the basic information you need to get going on a  small farm project, from your back yard to a few acres.  The course costs €50 for the full day, including lunch.  There are a maximum  of 12 places available.  For bookings, and further details, please visit http://www.smallholding.ie/courses.html

19.30 – 21.30 – The Community Supported Agriculture Salon
A ‘salon’ is a gathering of people held to increase the knowledge of the participants through conversation. This ‘salon’ on CSA will  discuss what the different types are, where they have been developed, introduce how we do CSA here in Cloughjordan and explore the barriers to more being established.

Saturday
10.00 - Opening
10.10 – Voices form the Field. Short presentations/ case studies on different community approaches to growing and  distributing food. The aim of this session is to provoke conversation in the café discussion.
Community Kitchens and Shops, Online Distribution Systems, Bread Club, Pork Share, Beef Bonds, CSAs, Food Coops/ Buyers Clubs, Food Sovereignty Initiatives, Cooperative Structures, Community Gardens
11.30 - World Café Discussion – ‘The opportunities and barriers of a cooperative approach’
13.00 - Lunch – Options Below
14.30 - Feeding Ourselves Panel Discussion - The Cooperative the Way Forward
Ella McSweeney of RTE will lead this discussion, which will build on what we have heard so far and look at the setting up, structuring and the financing of cooperative food systems.
16.00 - Break
16.15 - Making Local Food Work – James Alcock, Head of Frontline, Plunkett Foundation (UK)
James is responsible for Plunkett’s Frontline service, ensuring rural communities have access to advice and support setting up and  running community enterprises.
17.00 - Close
20.00 – Eating Together at Cloughjordan House - €10
22.00 – Dancing Together at Cloughjordan House - €10 (Event participants) €12
The Dub Investigation supported by Pressure Drop Sound system will provide the inspiration to dance. Food, refreshments and drinks will be available. This is a fundraiser for the Cloughjordan Community Farm

Sunday 
11.00 - Tour of the Ecovillage and Community Farm
12.30 - Lunch
13.30 - Open Space Session – Focused breakout sessions on specific topics….
Growers – (CSAs, single crop CSAs, Community Gardens, Securing Livelihoods)
Cooperative Approaches (Community Shops, Food Coops, Community Kitchens, Buyers Groups)
On Line Distribution, (OOOBY Model and other emerging online distribution systems)
Food Sovereignty (Food security through local, just and environmentally sound food systems)
15.30 – Plenary – Sharing our learning and moving forward.
16.00 - Close

ORGANIC PIGS IN EUROPE: a level playing field?

How and why is organic pork in such a poor place in Irish agriculture, and what can be done to improve it?

Let's talk to an award winning pig farmer about production and the various issues, and look at what happens elsewhere in Europe.

PJ and JP Crowe's organic farm is in Dundrum, west Tipperary, nine miles from the Limerick boarder.

Along with cattle, they have 12 sows and their followers, which totals about 170 pigs, between sows, bonhams and weaners.

Last year, their organic rashers won the top prize at the National Organic Awards - they have on farm processing and make a range of pork products.

OM: With such a top quality and high profile product, you would imagine that they could easily expand production.

JPC: Dunnes love our rashers. They would take them into central distribution to sell on a wide scale, but we don't have the product on that scale. There is no organic pig production in Ireland effectively.

The demand is there though, we'd sell a lot more but we can't grow our business further at the moment.

OM Why is this? Tell me about specific issues in production.

JPC: We have a four year rotation which minimises parasites. This in turns means that we can avoid the routine treatment of antibiotics.

The fresh air access the pigs have does certainly cut down the health issues – I haven't needed to treat for pneumonia or worms yet, and I'm convinced the outdoors helps with this. Fresh air is the most most natural thing in the world. In an indoors only system, if one of them gets sick, they all get sick.

We operate a grass based system, there are no tillage crops here as the soil is too heavy. My rotation involves grass with clover, but the rotation has high P and K because of the pig dung.

OM: Are there any knock on effects from this?

JPC: There are. High P and K enriches the soil, but also increases the weeds and docks, which love these conditions.

Anywhere that's reseeded, you can't spray as you can under conventional to kill off unwanted vegetation, and you get a dock infestation. The docks and weeds fights the grass, and organic methods are slower to get rid of docks. This in turn inevitably lowers the stocking rate for the cattle in the rotation. Pigs in a rotation means lower stocking rate for cattle.

OM How has the weather effected your farming system here?

JPC: Grain quality and under cover conditions are poor: if pigs are left out too long, there are cross compliance issues because of poaching and rooting up the land. Nutrient leaching can be a problem with too much water. So you have to bring them in before that happens.

There are also high levels of rain here in general, for outdoor pig production, and last year was higher that usual.

A pig won't thrive if its just outside in the wet and cold all the time – its just being fed to kept warm, and feed quality isn't especially good at present.

OM How much time did the pigs spend outdoors last year?

JPC: We left out our pigs at the end of March, brought them in at the end of July, and they could have even come in before that. They were indoors but with outdoor access; they had a concrete padded area, but could go out if they wanted to, with the straw bedding indoors.

OM Were there any issues with the certification bodies on this?

JPC I worked with IOFGA to verify that it was all acceptable. The cert bodies are there to help, welfare is first for animals under organic, so it was common sense, the weather was difficult for humans let alone pigs.”

What sort of organic pig regime operates in Ireland, and how could we increase the number of organic pigs here?

Ireland operates an outdoor, free range organic pig production system. Farmers have the option of bringing pigs indoors in extreme weather and over winter.

According to the standards “the pig enterprise should be free range and allow the pigs direct access to the soil and green food. Wallows and shade should be provided over the summer months”

IOFGA's Development Officer, Grace Maher, adds “in a particularly wet year like 2012 it is apparent to everyone that weather conditions may not be suitable to have animals outside. Farmers are not required to record the weather but they do have a record of their rotations and when animals are in specific fields and pastures” so there is in effect, “a record of where the animal is at all times including when they are forced indoors due to bad weather.”

The UK Soil Association's publication “Pig Ignorant” is a guide to being a successful small holding organic pig farmer. It points to the optimum conditions for keeping pigs:

“Ideally your land will be free draining in a low rainfall area (less than 800mm)...heavy land or high rainfall can lead to problems with soil erosion and animal welfare.”

Free draining soils with 800mm rain is not the reality in many parts of Ireland. JP Crowe tells me that his typical rainfall is about 1000mm, and last year, was 1300mm. He also happens not to have free draining soil, so his expansion options are limited.

According to JP “Parts of the UK where they have a lot of organic pigs, its a micro climate, with chalk soil. Some will also ave free draining land, so the pigs stay out all year, even over the Winter. Its optimum and there is very little soil erosion. There are very few sites like this in Ireland.”

Suprisingly, there are three different pig keeping regimes within organic in different parts of Europe: indoors, mixed indoors-outdoors and outdoors.

It may suprise consumers, and even some farmers, to know that countries such as Switzerland, Germany and Austria operate indoor organic pig enterprises, where the pigs simply have access to a concrete outdoor run.

Irish organic pig farmers have to compete with farmers who have this indoor system, with all the benefits in scale and productivity indoors can bring.

Comparing EU indoor and outdoor systems, organic researchers at FiBl Switzerland, citing UK research state “outdoor management may result in slightly better health, as reflected by mortality and replacement rates, but in poorer reproductive performance, as reflected by litters per sow per year and litter size” they state, even allowing for conception rate differences.

JP Crowe points to some benefits of the indoors: “Indoors you can obviously control feed and temperature levels, its a more balanced system. You can control the environment more and manage daily livewieght gain.”

So what are the key considerations?

A pen picture reveals some elements: an organic high welfare pig, one that ideally spends as much time as possible outdoors, exposed to both the elements and variety (wallows, shade) so they can have fresh air, feel the elements on their skin and underfoot, and can benefit from the better health performance outdoor pigs display. Feed would have to be certified organic, and thus always GM-free. Indoor access should be available, with straw bedding, which allows for plenty of rooting material.

This mixed, indoor-outdoor set up, as practiced in France and Sweden, would allow farmers to get benefits from both systems.

And perhaps, in the standards, there is something of a window, and a way to begin a conversation on organic pigs in Ireland: “open air areas may be partially covered” the IOFGA standards state.

The pig itself of course, knows what he wants, as JP Crowe concludes: “if its lashing rain outside and freezin', he'd be inside in the straw asleep with his belly full. You can be sure of that.”

FEEDING OURSELVES : COMMUNITY FOOD

CHECK OUT THIS UPCOMING EVENT IN CLOUGHJORDAN

Bookings here

Feeding Ourselves - How communities can benefit from cooperative food systems. 

EXTRA: suprise gig Saturday night too....more details to follow, but twill be fab!

Discover how a cooperative approach can strengthen and build more resilient and sustainable food systems, while at the same time supporting our communities and local economies.

If you want to create and support jobs in your area, help secure your food supply, are part of a community that wants to strengthen its local economy, or are a grower looking for a rewarding and potentially profitable way of supplementing your income, this event is for you.

Weekend Ticket only € 50 - part booking also available.

ORGANICS IRELAND 2013: WHAT'S IN STORE?

What will 2013 hold for organic producers? Oliver Moore investigates

Horticulture has a lot of potential, indeed recent media reports put growth for some organic growers at 40% in 2012. This seems optimistic, especially with such poor and erratic weather in recent times.

“My main wish for 2013 is for a nice summer!” So says Jason Horner of the Organic Growers of Ireland, who are holding a conference in Birr in February. Horner, who grows in Clare, adds “An apprenticeship scheme would help the sector develop, but its been difficult to establish.”

There are reports that supermarkets are importing up to E10 million of veg from EU countries, so there are certainly import substitution opportunities. To change this, Horner points out “supermarkets would have to put in seed capital, sometimes even to buy farms and set people up, as they did in the UK 15-20 years ago” he said, adding that there was little sign of this at present.

John Liston, organic dairy farmer in Limerick tells me Irish organic milk producers will specialise in summer milk. “We don't have the scale to compete on Winter milk, but we can compete with the best in the world with summer milk off grass.”

The Irish Organic Milk Producers have developed their own organic cheddar cheese. This cheese is a traditional cheddar, made with unpasteurised milk in round wheels. It will also retail in 200, 250 and 400g packs, in a deli style paper. Export markets in the UK and Europe – Italy France and Germany in particular - will be a big focus for the Little Milk Company.

“We have 15 tonnes ready to go, at various levels of maturity, and we're making more all the time. We hope to sell 25-35 tonnes of cheese this year, double that next year, and after that who knows? Our farmers produce 5 million litres of milk, so the sky's the limit” says Conor Mulhall, General Manager of the company.

Tastings in Ireland, and with UK and German buyers have already been arranged, while Mulhall will be visiting BioFach in Germany in February to further develop contacts.

John Brennan of the Leitrim Organic Farmers Co-op finds reasons to be cheerful for organic beef and lamb. “Demand for organic beef is stronger than supply at present.” However “the quality of silage isn't great”. Slaney meats, to whom the Co-op send 30-50 animals per week for processing, now also take 36 month old animals at full organic premium. Up until recently, the premium was only paid for animals up to 30 months. 36 months suits slower growing, grass based systems with Continental crosses, according to Brennan.

However an issue is that “to increase beef availability, we need more stores and weanlings. A problem for the organic sector is that “some continental animals, weanlings or stores, are getting as much in conventional marts. So there are less in the organic system, especially in the south and south east where the are less dedicated organic marts. This means that finishers don't have animals to buy.”

Brennan has seen a progressive use of supports by the Department on occasion, through grant aid being targeted more at organic farmers who kept animals in the organic system. This should be continued, he feels.

“Last year was ok for lamb, we're reasonably hopeful that the hogget trade will be good. We have new entrants in sheep. There are no exact stats on the numbers of organic sheep in country, which there should be. At the same time, we know with these new people coming in, we do need to try to grow that market.”

Organic meat from further south tends to go through the Good Herdsman, who have developed strong markets in Europe, where organic sales are growing rapidly.

Pork and poultry remain difficult sectors to grow. Major pork producers Gold River farm, Wicklow, recently left the organic system, emphasising the matter. Many have argued for some sort of loose barn semi outdoors system in organic to adapt to the realities of the Irish weather.

More on this here soon