The rise and fall of Organic Farming in Greece

In June 2004, the European Commission, responding to the growing expansion of Organic Farming in European Union, proceeded into adopting a European Action Plan aiming at the establishment, reinforcement and development of the Organic Market. The policy paper consisted of 21 agenda points – actions for the Member States and indirect payments to farmers were included, although not clear enough...

530 days and still counting…

The new Regulations (EC) 834/2007 and 889/2008 for Organic Farming were set into force from January 1st, 2009 and European Member States were obligated to adjust their National Legislation accordingly. Greece of course is a different case. The Ministry of Rural Development and Food (Directorate of Organic Farming) is still struggling to finalize the new Ministerial Decision which will cover the...

Let’s start from the beginning…

What is Organic Farming? The definitions for Organic Farming are multiple and definitely of considerable range. Definitions start from the anthropo-philosophical theories of Rudolf Steiner and the agronomic theories of Sir Albert Howard and end up to the modern boundaries of regulatory standardization for the production and labeling of Organic Products. A periphrastic definition which could...