Organic farmers must not kill the goose that lays the golden egg

Responding to news that organic farmers are discussing the possibility of relaxing their rules in the face of the downturn, Neil Parish MEP, Conservative chairman of the European Parliament’s agriculture committee, said:

"We do need to find ways to help organic farmers cope with the downturn but we must also be careful not to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. There is no magic solution to this problem.

"A common sense approach to relaxing feed rules is a possibility but we must not water down organic requirements so far as to lose the confidence of those consumers who are loyal to the organic label."