2.2 TOC and Organic Farming
What does TOC do?
The Organic Company, believes that organic farming is the future, it's a must, and that destructive conventional farming should be forbidden. We accept that growing cotton organically produces a lower field output and as part of our business ethos we focus on three aspects of behaviour change that can be part of the solution.
1. LESS AND BETTER
At The Organic Company, we work with a 'less and better' strategy, which champions good quality, good functionality and alternatives to disposables whilst discouraging 'fast fashion' and seasonal trends. We would like to see this strategy become more mainstream in business as part of an essential move towards better resource management. In general, we have come to realise that many disposable products use the same amount of raw material as reusables, highlighting that the step towards reusable products is much better for managing raw material resources.
By reassessing our generation's relationship with resources, we can avoid being known in the future as the “disposable generation” or the “waste generation”.
2. FOOD WASTE
In the food industry from post-harvest to retail, 14% of all food is waste. This doesn't even include the food waste during retail, so of course this number gets bigger when the entire supply chain is included. Did you know that around 1.4 million bananas are thrown out every day in UK? This is an area that we can all have a positive impact on and improve the way that we approach food waste in society.
References: Organic Authority, New Food Magazine, Science Daily.
3. POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT WITH ORGANIC AGRICULTURE
Over the years, organic farming has improved the field output with environmentally friendly methods that can increase yield without violating the soil. These developments in production should be supported and encouraged so that they become more mainstream in agriculture.
To emphasise just how critical these changes could be, a recent UN report shares the devastating message that: around a million plant and animal species are now threatened with extinction, many within the coming decades.
The report also tells us that it isn't too late to make a positive difference, responsible changes on a local and global scale can help to conserve and restore the environment. GOTS certified organic cotton production manages agriculture sustainably, maintaining biodiversity, avoiding chemicals and consuming less water whilst producing less CO2 emissions compared to conventional cotton farming.
You can read more about GOTS cotton production in other posts: Soil Association, The Food and Agriculture Organisation, Britannica, The Guardian, The Food and Agriculture Organisation, Soil Association – Myth busters.
