+33 680 38 14 46
Organic apple revolution
United Kingdom
Thursday 03 May 2007
AB
Organic Farm Foods (OFF) managing director Adam Wakeley has promised to begin a UK-grown organic apple revolution.
Wakeley revealed his organic plan to Observer Food Monthly: supermarkets and consumers, he said, are desperate for organic, UK fruit, and he intends to provide them with it. "Through our investors we are going to buy large chunks of the right land - normally this means Hereford and Kent and plant with the right varieties. It takes three years to grow the apples, which coincidentally is the time it takes for organic conversion. At the end you not only have home-grown apples but more land in organic conversion. The Sunday supplement said Wakeley's scheme is under way on acreage bought by his first investor, but he won't be growing 'classic' English varieties, labeling Cox "the junkie of apples". He added: "[Cox] wouldn't last a day without chemicals. Take away its fertilisers and pesticides and it will wilt. So we need to go right back and find the varieties which are disease-resistant and have good taste. This is what we have done." OFF, he claimed, is focusing on strains from the 13th and 14th century.
Wakeley revealed his organic plan to Observer Food Monthly: supermarkets and consumers, he said, are desperate for organic, UK fruit, and he intends to provide them with it. "Through our investors we are going to buy large chunks of the right land - normally this means Hereford and Kent and plant with the right varieties. It takes three years to grow the apples, which coincidentally is the time it takes for organic conversion. At the end you not only have home-grown apples but more land in organic conversion. The Sunday supplement said Wakeley's scheme is under way on acreage bought by his first investor, but he won't be growing 'classic' English varieties, labeling Cox "the junkie of apples". He added: "[Cox] wouldn't last a day without chemicals. Take away its fertilisers and pesticides and it will wilt. So we need to go right back and find the varieties which are disease-resistant and have good taste. This is what we have done." OFF, he claimed, is focusing on strains from the 13th and 14th century.
