Shoprite stores in Douglas, Port Erin, Peel and Ramsey have a welcome new addition in time for Christmas: selected cuts of local organic beef, lamb and Loaghtan lamb. This delicious local organic meat is the first of a range of products to be launched under the Pure Manx organic label. Pure Manx organic is 100% local, helps protect our precious soil and is kinder to our environment. As organic farmer Pheric Curphey says, ‘All our animals enjoy a natural, GM-free diet and mature slowly, which gives a great flavour. In a nutshell, organic farming is about farming with nature.’ The people behind Pure Manx are the Manx Organic Producers Group, a collective of local farmers and growers who between them produce a range of meat, seasonal vegetables, eggs, herbs and more – everything you need for your Christmas dinner in fact! While the meat is available in Shoprite’s main stores, the veg and other goods can be found at the Island’s farmers’ markets and other selected outlets. Roger Fargher, the Island’s newly appointed Organic Coordinator, comments, ‘Pure Manx organic is an opportunity for the Isle of Man to supply some of the demand for organic produce locally rather than via imports, giving shoppers the choice they want and giving our economy a boost.’ And it seems there is plenty demand for local organic produce in the Island. In recent market research into the Isle of Man’s food market by the Department of the Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA), 23% of respondents said that it was important for their food to be organic. Everything that carries the Pure Manx organic label has been certified as organic by Organic Farmers & Growers or the Soil Association – two of the UK-based organic certification bodies. From natural production methods to animal welfare, organic standards are among the highest food standards in the world. So when shoppers buy Pure Manx organic they can rest assured that not only is it as Manx as Tynwald Hill, it’s organic through and through. Organic farm production on the Isle of Man goes back many years. Committed organic farmers like Andrew Moore of Balladoole Farm, Castletown, Juan and the late Erica Cain of Ballahot, Malew and James and Pheric Curphey of Ballanea Farm, Kirk Michael have been certified organic since the early 1990s and have been supplying delicious organic products at the farm gate, farmers markets and independent outlets such as Radcliffes Butchers in Castletown. Over the last six years their numbers have swelled as more producers have opted for farming organically, including Adam Kelly who manages the Carnane Organic farmland overlooking Douglas, Jenny and Stephen Devereau of Staarvey Farm near Peel, and Dot and Robin Price of Purely Plants Produce in Andreas. - ENDS -