Food production organic farming

The following short selection of web site addresses will provide the reader with further interesting and useful information as well as some onward links to other web addresses concerned with organic and sustainable farming and food production. 

The production and consumption of organic food has increased rapidly over the last 20 years. In Europe the land area under organic management increased from less than 0.1 to more than 6 million ha between 1985 and 2004. It is estimated that more than 30 million ha of land are farmed organically across more than 600,000 organic farms, creating an organic food and drinks market of more than 16.5 billion (= 24 billion = US 32 billion) (Soil Association, 2006). 

The second interesting feature of an organic product from the perspective of consumer food choice is, paradoxically, the lack of choice. Lampkin and Measures (2001) describe organic farming as ... 

Zollitsch W. (2003). Working group report Poultry production constraints and recommendations for enhancing health, welfare and food safety , in Hovi M., Martini A. and Padel S., Socio-Economic Aspects of Animal Health andFood Safety in Organic Farming System, Proceeding of the 1st SAFO Workshop 5-7 September 2003, Florence, Italy. University of Reading. 

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