Minister of State, Shane McEntee warmly welcomed a large group of Danish organic farmers in Kilcock today. Meeting on the farm of Alan Mooney, organic beef and cereal farmer, Mr McEntee said Ireland has a lot to learn from other countries with regard to organic production. “We pride ourselves on quality food in Ireland and I know that we need to expand the organic sector and as Minister I want to enable this to happen during my tenure”.
Minister of State, Shane McEntee warmly welcomed a large group of Danish organic farmers in Kilcock today. Meeting on the farm of Alan Mooney, organic beef and cereal farmer, Mr McEntee said Ireland has a lot to learn from other countries with regard to organic production. “We pride ourselves on quality food in Ireland and I know that we need to expand the organic sector and as Minister I want to enable this to happen during my tenure”.
Gillian Westbrook, General Manager, IOFGA stated that she “was delighted to have the group here. Denmark is one of the European leaders in the organic sector 6% of their land is certified organic so farmers and the government are very supportive of organic farming. There is also a new Organic Farming Action Plan being launched shortly in Denmark which has a target to double this area by 2020. The Danes consume the highest amount of organic food per capita in the EU, and nearly 8% of all food sales are organic, worth in the region of €800 million a year. Ireland can learn a lot from Denmark. We are also delighted to be able to show these farmers some of the best organic farms and products in Ireland in return”.
Source: Irish Organic Farmers and Growers Association – Danish Organic Farmers See How it’s Done in Ireland