Australia: Launching Organic Week

The organic industry in Australia is gathering momentum as it prepares for the third annual National Organic Week (NOW) - its most significant awareness-raising activity of the year. Producers, retailers, restaurants, processors and wholesalers, markets, community groups, councils and schools will all take part in a nation-wide program of events aimed at promoting the benefits of organic eating, living and farming and accelerate the uptake of these in the wider Australian community. National „Be Organic“ Day on 1 October will kick off 10 days of nationwide organic festivities including gala events, launch parties, food and wine tastings, celebrity cooking demonstrations and educational workshops. Industry associations the Centre for Organic & Resource Enterprises (CORE) and Biological Farmers of Australia (BFA) are hosting and promoting NOW 2010 which this year has the theme Be Organic: Taste the Difference, Feel the Difference, Be the Difference.
 

“The primary objective of National Organic Week is to increase purchases of organic products by promoting the many benefits of organic products and farming systems. The week includes targeted media and promotional programs designed to increase consumer demand through support of retail promotions, locally-staged events and consumer awareness programs,” said Eric Love, Chairman of CORE. Holly Vyner, Biological Farmers of Australia (BFA) General Manager, says NOW2010 is tipped to be the annual event’s most successful year to date. “Support and involvement in the event has grown enormously over the past two years, and we believe that there has never been a better time to take the organic message to the Australian public who are looking for products that are healthier, more sustainable and guarantee animal welfare. In 2009 we had over 120 NOW events registered nationwide and over one million opportunities to see or hear the NOW 09 messages in the media. This year we have expectations for raising even greater public awareness with Tobie Puttock as National Organic Week ambassador and retailers nationwide working together to put forward the NOW message,” she says. 
 
Organic Week