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BIO FACH 2000 REPORT The World's Largest Trade Show of Organic Food Products opened today @ the Fairground Hall in Nuremberg with over 1500 exhibitors displaying an array of every kind of food available all with one thing in common: all were grown, manufactured and produced by sustainable organic practices. The overriding emphasis on creating a food production system based on this simple, yet profound concept is that it can be done and is being done. Through the years we have heard the argument that the world cannot be fed using a sustainable agricultural system. Well, I have a request to make of the doubtful, come to Bio Fach & see what is happening in Europe. Every day we are faced with the inevitable consequences of a global food system based upon treating the soil as if it were a factory charged with the objectives of mass production. Soil erosion, ground water contamination, pesticide poisoning have all vanished from this world of BIO FACH 2000. What we have here is the embryonic stages of a new order of farming, manufacturing & market not just of a product, but of a lifestyle based upon respect. The concept is not new, but the poor judgments of industrial agriculture have brought an unexpected activist movement to the forefront of global cooperation. And the manifestation of this movement has given us the opportunity to eat the foods that positively promote health while simultaneously supporting an agricultural system that takes into consideration what the ramification of our actions to will be on future generations. BIO FACH 2000 is breaking all previous records. With over 1400 exhibitors from around the world make Nuremberg the center of the Bio Movement. The fair has grown in size by over 10% since a year ago. As last year a strong foreign participation is behind this dramatic increase. Italy alone has increased it's presence this year with an additional 104 companies, bringing it to a grand total of 327 exhibitors. This can also be seen by the increase of ecologically cultivated land in Italy up to nearly 800, 000 hectares. Additionally, countries like Spain, France, Switzerland and Greece are also represented much stronger this year. The German Minister of Agriculture Karl-Heinz Funke, has designated Dr. Martin Wille, a federal official and his Swiss colleague Dr. Hans Burger to preside over the opening ceremonies. The Russian Federation's Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Ivan Starikov together with the country's deputy Minister of Finance along with a delegation of EU dignitaries will add to the presence of international concern about the future of the Bio Movement. All BIO FACH 2000 visitors are awaiting the arrival of a video message from His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, who only last week received an award from the president of the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM), Bernward Geier at St. James Palace. The greetings by The Price of Wales are not only directed at the BIO FACH 2000 visitors but at all the people in the world who are somehow committed to a way of life in harmony with nature. . |
