Organic land covers area triple the size of London
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Almost twice as many organic crops are being grown in the UK compared to a year ago and sales are the second highest in Europe, according to figures published yesterday.
The report by the Soil Association, the country's largest organic campaigning and certification body, shows the area of organic land is equivalent to three times the size of Greater London, having increased from 240,000 hectares to 458,600 hectares in the past 12 months.
Nearly 80 per cent of households buy some organic food, spending £920m, which is more than any other European country apart from Germany.
The data is revealed in the Soil Association's Organic Food and Farming Report 2002, the most comprehensive survey of the organic market, drawing on information from organic businesses, retailers, 15,000 shoppers and government.
The figures show that there are nearly 4,000 licensed organic farms in the UK and that South-west England is home to more than a quarter of all organic farms.
Patrick Holden, director of the Soil Association, said the organic industry was "one of the fastest growing areas of the UK food and drink sector".
"The majority of households now buy organic food, the leading supermarkets see organic food as a major growth area and in the last year, organic farming has been given crucial financial backing from the Government," Mr Holden said.
"The challenge ahead is to encourage consumers and retailers to increase their support for UK farmers by choosing home-produced organic food wherever possible."
The Soil Association is calling for more effort from supermarkets to honour "buy British first" policies.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments