Retailer's 'right to know' policy

Consumers will boycott stores which do not meet their ethical standards, according to a comprehensive survey of 30,000 people carried out by the Co-op retailer. Three in four feel let down by retailers and manufacturers who are failing to tell consumers which products are cruel to animals or harm the environment. Seven out of 10 people believe the food industry has a duty to the environment. As a result, the Co-op now has a 'right to know policy'
    The Co-op considers food produced using integrated crop management (ICM), rather than organic production, will satisfy consumer environmental demands outlined above. ICM, which allows for a more managed use of synthetic pesticides, is a concept that the Co-op's farm wing-CWS has been involved with for some years through their own farm-level experimentation. Despite the assertions from the Soil Association (see above), the Co-op says that demand for organic produce has flattened out. It is quick to point out that it still sell organic produce and would put more on the shelves if demand warranted it. Along with an ICM farm CWS, the UK's biggest farming enterprise, has been running an experimental organic farm for some time.

Pesticide labelling?
The Co-op has not ruled out labelling pesticides used on food produce-although it has not ruled it in either. "The Co-op is willing to provide individually inquiring consumers with as much information as they can, about the ways in which their produce is grown. It is unlikely however that pesticide labelling will appear on packaging, unless there is a very strong public demand for it," said Martin Henderson of CWS.

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 28, June 1995, page 27]