Organic Insights - Spring 2022

Organic Insights / Spring 2022 / 9

CELEBRATING ANOTHER IMPORTANT 30 TH ANNIVERSARY! THE NATIONAL STANDARD FOR ORGANIC & BIO-DYNAMIC PRODUCE, AUSTRALIA'S EXPORT STANDARD FOR ORGANIC AND BIO-DYNAMIC PRODUCE HAS NOW BEEN IN PLACE FOR 30 YEARS.

THE REST IS HISTORY! Joy and Lester have now been married for 47 years, adding 2 more children to the original 4 – all of whom have since gained trade qualifications off farm. They do have a grandson, however, who likes to help out, particularly where there is the opportunity to drive the tractor. Joy’s advice for anyone starting out in organic? “JUST DO IT!” “I’ve never liked chemicals, and even if we weren’t farming commercially, I’d still have an organic farm,” she says.

“Now, when people say they are organic, I ask them for their certification number,” Joy says. She also spends a lot of time educating consumers about certification. The workload can be demanding for the couple, and an increasing number of fees have added to farm expenses. “It’s lots of work with just Lester and I,” says Joy. “We have had 2 backpackers from Ireland helping – and one has stayed on – to marry our son!” says Joy, going on to recount the story of the two ‘Sineads’ from Ireland (distinguished with the nicknames light shade and dark shade). “Our son only had room for one in the ute when he was going to a bushfire meeting, so he picked dark shade,” she says.

AND, AN IMPORTANT 25-YEAR ANNIVERSARY…

IOAS are celebrating 25 years of cultivating organic trust, providing organic and sustainable accreditation services worldwide. IOAS is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the integrity of ecolabel claims in the field of organic and sustainable agriculture, environmental management, social justice, and fair trade – supporting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). IOAS was founded in 1997 by the International Federation of Agricultural Movements (IFOAM) to facilitate trust in a global network of accredited certification bodies. Today, the organisation provides accreditation and assessment for private schemes and regulators to over 80 certification and conformity bodies (CBs) around the world. NASAA has been proudly accredited with IOAS since inception.