Who on earth (no pun intended) does the Soil Association think it is?
This tiny, unrepresentative organisation promotes organic food in the UK and is the doyen of the latte-drinking, Waitrose-patronising classes who prefer their fruit and veg natural, lumpy and muddy rather than injected with chemicals and wrapped in plastic. Yesterday, the Association unveiled its plans to make life for African farmers even harder than it already is. In order to discourage the air-freight transportation of organic farm produce from the Third World into the UK (apparently air freight is bad for the environment), the Association is planning to impose even stricter ethical standards on foreign organic grub. In order to win the Association’s much-coveted ‘Organic Standard’ label, Third World farmers will have to show, not only that their foodstuffs were grown organically and without the use of pesticides, but also that their produce is ‘Fairtrade’ and lives up to various other ‘high environmental standards’. Never one to beat around the bush, the Association openly said, ac
