The nation’s appetite for organic food is growing. Photograph: Nick Turner/Alamy

Thanks to the Guardian‘s ongoing coverage of environmental issues, this story about sales of organics in their home market:

Sales of organic food and drink rose by 2.8% last year after successive years of decline, fuelled by strong growth among independent retailers and healthy online sales.

The organic market in the UK was worth £1.79bn in 2013 – up from £1.74bn in 2012 – according to the 2014 Organic Market Report from the Soil Association, the trade body which licenses organic products as well as representing organic farmers.

The growth is ahead of the overall grocery sales for 2013, which slowed to just 2.1%.There are signs that the trend is set to continue this year – organic sales in January were up by 2.5%, outperforming overall grocery sales which slumped by 3.2%.

During recent tougher economic times organic purchases with a premium price were among the first food items to be ditched as consumers sought to save money on their weekly shopping.

In 2012 organic sales fell by 1.5% and in the previous year they slumped by 3.7%. At their height in 2008, before the start of the recession, sales of organic products totalled £2.1bn. 2013’s small rise reverses the ongoing slide in the face of ongoing tough economic conditions, compared to Fairtrade product sales, which have been more resilient.

But the organic market is still dwarfed by the size of the overall food and drink sector – the largest manufacturing segment in the UK and now worth £92bn, according to the trade body, the Food and Drink Federation…

Read the whole article here.