IFOAM welcomed the world of organic trade at BioFach fair in Nuremberg, Germany
IFOAM’s service center never saw a quiet moment. The impressive range of about 40 IFOAM publications met broad interest from visitors. The immense knowledge of IFOAM experts, World Board members and staff facilitated the dissemination of information and networking for diverse interests. Thomas Cierpka, IFOAM’s Director for Member Relations and Operations noted “at BioFach, IFOAM lives its mission, which is leading, uniting and assisting the organic movement in its full diversity. We offered services, expertise and were able to grow our membership by 20 new applicants.”
The IFOAM restaurant “Osteria Armonia” was a focal point, where people enjoyed good organic and fair trade coffee from Costa Rica and culinary delights from Italy.
The fair strengthened its reputation and continued its role as one of the most important opportunities to exchange information, learn, discuss and strategize. Close to 5000 people participated in the educational program. About 15 international seminars were organized by IFOAM alone. Topics ranged from “The Principles of Organic Agriculture” and “Ethics in Trade” to “GMOs” and “Wild harvesting of organic products”. The presentation of the 7th revised edition of the publication The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics and Emerging Trends 2005, which gained significant attention, reported the latest trends and figures on organic farming and markets around the world The respective publication is available from the IFOAM Head Office (16 Euros) and can be purchased as a download on the IFOAM or FibL websites (8 Euros).
This year’s BioFach also saw the launch of the “Organic World Café”, an event exclusively organized for the trade by the IFOAM Trade Forum. The “Organic World Café” provided a platform for organic trade and business, combining presentations from around the world and the celebration of key personalities, while highlighting vanguard developments in a fun, interactive and delightful gourmet and organic way.
The symposium “Globalization yes, but value oriented, organic and fair” was the highlight of IFOAM’s events. This event was organized in cooperation with the German Ministry of Consumer Protection and Agriculture (BMVEL) for the third consecutive year. Presentations from the Brazilian Minister of Agriculture Roberto Rodrigues, Germany’s Minister of Consumer Protection and Agriculture Renate Künast and the activist and alternative Nobel Prize Laureate Vandana Shiva from India were followed by discussion and debate amongst the 300 participants from 36 countries.
BioFach also served as the platform for launching an international promotion campaign for the upcoming 15th IFOAM Organic World Congress, which will take place from September 20th – 23rd 2005 in Adelaide/Australia (more information about the congress can be found at: www.nasaa.com.au/ifoam2005).
IFOAM’s Vice President and Executive Director Gerald A. Herrmann summarized IFOAM’s engagement and activities at BioFach, stating “IFOAM is proud that its leading role in spearheading the development of organic in the world could be demonstrated again at this year’s BioFach. The optimism of all organic players is not only unwavering, but is strongly supported by the growing market figures. The movement is also able to point its fingers to critical developments like social benefits, biodiversity and the firm “no” to all genetic engineering.”
IFOAM Press Release, responsible Bernward Geier, Director for International Relations
IFOAM Head Office:
Charles-de-Gaulle-Str. 5, 53113 Bonn, Germany
Tel: ++49-228-926 50 10 - Fax: ++49-228-926 50 99
www.ifoam.org, E-Mail: headoffice@ifoam.org
Pictures of BioFach and IFOAM related events may be requested from the Head Office. Spanish and German versions of the press release will also be available.