EU average of 2.2% of agricultural land as organic, while in countries such as
Austria and Sweden the ®gure is over 10% (Lampkin quoted in Soil Association,
2000). USDA estimates that in the USA the value of retail sales of organic foods in
1999 was approximately $6 billion, while the number of organic farmers is increasing at a rate of about 12% per year (USDA, 2000). The area of organic and in-
conversion land in the UK doubled between 1999 and 2000. Organic farming, as is
discussed below, has a long history but its sudden elevation from relative obscurity
merits a consideration of its development and nature. As noted above, the focus
of the paper is predominantly European and North American, which is not to
devalue the signicance of developments in the Southern Hemisphere but rather
to keep the paper reasonably focussed.
As the gures above on the development of the organic market indicate, the
growth in consumer demand for environmentally friendly, ``green'' or chemical-free
food products has led to an expansion in Europe and North America of organic
registration schemes. These schemes are seen to guarantee that products are pro-
duced in a certain way, with a range of agricultural inputs prohibited. The effects of
these schemes on producers, and the implications of an expansion of the world
market in such goods are also discussed in the context of agricultural sustainability.
This raises issues regarding the scale, productivity and organisation of a future sustainable agriculture.