Why
Growing food organically improves soil health which is fundamental to everything that we grow and eat, to the health of the planet, and to biodiversity.
Switching to an organic diet can reduce your carbon footprint by 0.7 tonnes of CO2 (15% of the average carbon footprint) (Carbon Independent). The chemical inputs of intensive chemical farming all generate CO2 emissions, degenerate the soil and contaminate water.
How
Shop at local, organic farmers’ markets.
Find the 'organic' aisle at your local supermarket, or shop at organic only supermarkets including Planet Organic and Whole Foods.
Shop at online organic marketplaces for home delivery including:
Abel & Cole
Riverford Organic Farmers
Soil Association Organic Box Scheme Finder
Eversfield Organic
Organic Delivery Company
Look for the following certification labels on food products:
Organic Farmers and Growers CIC (GB-ORG-02)
Organic Food Federation (GB-ORG-04)
Soil Association Certification Ltd (GB-ORG-05, GB-BIO-142)
Biodynamic Association Certification (GB-ORG-06)
Quality Welsh Food Certification Ltd (GB-ORG-13)
OF&G (Scotland) Lts (GB-ORG-17)
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)
B Corp (Certified B Corporation)
Did you know?
Choosing local produce is important in order to lower one’s impact through transport emissions. However, choosing organic produce has a much bigger impact on lowering GHG emissions. For example, one study that was assessing the energy input of a carton of non-organic orange juice showed that synthetic fertilisers were responsible for one third of its lifecycle emissions (David Suzuki foundation).
Healthy soil is a carbon sink that stores huge amounts of carbon. The healthier the soils, the more carbon they can capture and store. Globally, soils store 2,500 billion tonnes of carbon. This figure accounts for more carbon than the plants, trees and the atmosphere combined (Soil Association). UK soils alone store 9.8 billion tonnes of carbon, which is equivalent to around 27 years of UK carbon emissions.
Spread the word
In order to keep warming below 1.5C we need to halve emissions by
2030. Share this action and help play a part in reversing climate change.
