Why buy Organic?

Whereas Fairtrade products have a strong impact on the economy of developing countries by guaranteeing fair and stable prices for producers, organic products have additional environmental benefits, especially when compared with the alternatives.

 Non-Organic Cotton

• Pesticides

Conventional cotton is often marketed as a natural product yet cotton farming uses 32% of the world’s pesticides and insecticides despite the fact that cotton plantations take up only 2.5% of the world’s farmland. The pesticides used on conventional cotton plantations are derived from harmful petrochemicals which pose a threat not only to the farmers cultivating it, but also the delicate ecological makeup of the land used to grow it.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports 3 million cases of pesticide poisoning annually (of whom 1 million are hospitalised – make of that what you will) alongside 20,000 pesticide related deaths. Many of these deaths are attributed to cotton production. Over 99% of cotton is produced in the developing world.

It takes just a few years for pests to develop resistance to a new pesticide. When new pesticides are manufactured, privatised cotton companies sell them to farmers on credit. This dependency on pesticides frequently forces farmers into debt. There have been a shocking number of suicides as a result of cotton farming debts, over 1500 in Chattisgarah (an agricultural state in central India) alone. Industrial pesticides have also been linked to a variety of health issues including depression, reduced brain activity, stomach and lung problems and burns.

Another ecological issue related to non-organic cotton production is the potential of pesticides to enter the food chain and water supply not only via the water cycle but also because cottonseed and cottonseed husks are used as feed for farm animals. Cottonseed oil is also used in cooking in many parts of the world.

• Child Workers

Recent reports from Uzbekistan and India highlight the fact that child workers are being employed to pick cotton under dire conditions. This may be a result of the low wages on offer to adult workers, a travesty which choosing Fairtrade cuts out.

• GM or Biotech Cotton

43% of the world’s cotton is now ‘Biotech’ cotton, a genetically modified plant intended to reduce the use of pesticides by developing pest resistant crops. Recent reports have shown that Biotech cotton is not the environmental saviour it was anticipated to be. Pests quickly become tolerant of the crops, meaning pesticides still have to be used. An I-SIS report shows that GM Cotton crops show a reduction in vital enzymes and nutrients in the earth which leads to ‘dead’ soil unable to grow any produce.

  Organic Cotton

Cotton has been grown for over 5000 years without the use of pesticides and insecticides. Pest control strategies in place historically centred around holistic approaches including crop rotation and pest cycles.

•  Natural Pest Fighting Measures

Organic cotton farmers are finding novel ways to fight cotton pests in their crops. In Uganda, black ants are used to control cotton-eating pests and elsewhere natural soap, chilli and extracts from local trees are enough to deter them. Insect traps are used to monitor insect levels allowing farmers to time their applications of natural repellents to best effect. Crop rotation, habitat management and encouraging natural predators have proven to be effective and safe ways to reduce natural predators and these have the added benefit of allowing nutrients to remain in the soil so it can be used in future to grow food crops.

•  Helping Farmers in the Developing World

Organic cotton can be sold at a premium allowing more money to go to those at the bottom of the chain. Growing organically also encourages crop rotation meaning farmers aren’t reliant on solely cotton crops for their income. Organic textiles do not always cost more than those that are mass-produced. Although farmers get a premium for the crop, there are fewer middlemen, so savings can be made at this level.

The global market for Organic Cotton is on the rise. The Organic Cotton Market Report of 2009 released in May 2010 shows organic cotton apparel and home textiles reached $4.3 billion in 2009. A 35% increase from $3.2 billion recorded in 2008.

Buying organic cotton products sends a message to business and government that there is a demand for justice in the growing and manufacture of cotton products and that consumers are increasing in interest about where and how their clothes are made.

The high standards of Organic Cotton production provide you, as a consumer, with the knowledge that the product you’re buying has been produced with the aim of avoiding damage to the environment and human health.