Organic farmers lagging behind demand at the supermarket: StatsCan

Canada's organic farmers are having a hard time meeting demand at the grocery store, a Statistics Canada study released Friday suggests.

"While organic fruits and vegetables are among the most prominent products on market shelves, domestic production lags behind demand for the same reasons that challenge conventional Canadian fruit and vegetable producers," the study said.

"Chief among those reasons are our winters and consumer expectations of fresh product year round."

Sales of organic foods account for less than one per cent of the $46.5 billion spent on groceries in 2006, the study said.

While the number of organic farms in Canada increased nearly 60 per cent between 2001 and 2006,a relativelysmall amountof thetop cropsis processed, sold or consumed in the country, the study said.

Hay and field crops including wheat, durum and oilseeds are Canada's most abundant organic crop, according to the report, which examined data from the census of agriculture and surveys taken from the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada. A total of 2,462 farms half of which were in Saskatchewan said they grew organic field crops and hay.

"Canada has a competitive advantage for growing grains and oilseeds because of the climate and large expanses of cropland suited to mechanization," the report said. "So it makes sense that organic field crops and hay would be the most common certified organic product."

Many of the exports are sold to the U.S., the European Union and Japan, with just 16.7 per cent remaining in Canada, the report said.

The OACC survey, which measured increases from 2005 to 2006, found the following:

• Total sales of certified organic food have increased 28 per cent.
• Sales of pre-packaged certified organic foods have jumped 31 per cent.
• Sales of fresh produce were up by 22 per cent.
• Sales of fresh vegetables accounted for 25 per cent of the organic market followed by fresh fruit at 13 per cent and dairy products at 11 per cent.
• The greatest per capita demand for organic food is in B.C., where organic sales account for 26 per cent of the country's organics market.
• Certified organic milk production spiked dramatically to 40.8 million litres in 2005-06, from 10.7 million litres in 2000-01.

Under new regulations, farmers seeking to market their products as being organic must be certified by a body accredited by Canada's food watchdog, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, as of Dec. 14, 2008.