External costs of conventionally produced food amount to US$700 billion for environmental degradation and to US$900 billion for social costs, according to a FAO report.
If prices for conventional food products internalized costs and thus represented reality, the report says organic products would be cheaper.
For the Green Week, a campaign is launched to inform consumers at the point of sale about the real costs of food products.
Facts reveal why organic products are ultimately cheap(er).
“Conventionally produced food should already today be considerably more expensive than organic food,” says Volkert Engelsman, the Dutch initiator of this campaign and CEO of EOSTA, an international distributor of fresh organic fruits and vegetables.
“Yet, how big is the difference in reality? What are the environmental and social costs that we are in fact pushing on to our children, grandchildren and Nature? The sustainability flower of Nature & More allows the consumer to see this at a glance!”
