Informe El medio ambiente en Europa: Estado y perspectivas 2020

PART 3
BOX 17.5
Mainstreaming organic food
Organic food was pioneered in
the 1930s by activist farmers
and scientists as a means of recycling
nutrients and organic matter and
improving human and animal health.
Between 1970 and 1990, a more
organised organic food movement
emerged, advocating small-scale
production and localism. Gradually,
associations were created that
developed organic standards to build
consumer trust and engaged in political
advocacy to gain policy support (Smith,
2006; von Oelreich and Milestad, 2017).
In the 1990s and early 2000s, market
demand for organic food grew
(Figure 17.5), partly in response to
food scandals. Supermarkets became
interested, encouraging farmers to
convert to organic production, and
policymakers introduced organic farming
policies and supported research and
technical training.
As big farming businesses entered the
market, greater pressure to standardise
production and provide predictable
outputs drove small farmers out of
business. Organic farming moved
from niche to mainstream and, in the
process, diverged from some of its
initial grassroots values such as local
production and broader sustainability
values (Smith, 2006). Although organic
food has become a profitable and
fast-growing market, it remains more
expensive than mainstream food,
which means that wider diffusion
beyond affluent consumers or those
simply willing to pay extra may
require continued policy support
(Aschemann‐Witzel and Zielke, 2017). ■
FIGURE 17.5 Organic agricultural land coverage in Europe, 1985-2015
Million of hectares of land
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Sources: FIBL and IFOAM (2016); FIBL (2019).
392 SOER 2020/Responding to sustainability challenges