Is organic farming answer to Europes food crisis?
2001 Reuters March 6, 2001 Story by Sharman Esarey LONDON – Is cheap food worth the risk? Or is organic the answer? Across Europe, politicians struggling to end food crises ranging from mad cow to foot-and-mouth disease are questioning conventional farming practices and hunting for alternatives. Last week, foot-and-mouth disease spread from England to Scotland and Northern Ireland, prompting other European countries to tighten steps to disinfect travellers and vehicles from the British Isles. European consumers, who have already weathered a raft of food scares including E-coli, campylobacter, salmonella and dioxin, were badly shaken last autumn when the mad cow, or BSE, crisis spread from Britain to the continent. Given all the bad news, they have grown wary of anything “unnatural” and have shunned genetically modified (GM) foods, which are spliced with foreign genes to help them resist drought or ward off pests. Organic methods – which strive for sustainable farming and quality food –
