Government has confirmed that a minimum of 10% of food purchased via public procurement will be certified as organic, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Pippa Hackett announced on Wednesday 10 April.

In order to support a diverse organic sector, the strategy provides that the 10% number is hit across individual food categories, rather than the entire target being met through supplies of only one or two food categories, Hackett said.

"One of the ways we can support even more farmers to make the switch to organic is for the State to become a purchaser of organic food and we know that public procurement has worked really well in other EU member states as a policy lever to grow the organic sector," Minister Hackett maintained.

Since 2020, organics has seen a threefold increase in both the number of organic farmers and in the area of land farmed organically, she added.

Initiative

"Minister Ossian Smyth and I have worked closely over a number of months on this latest policy initiative to ensure that Government departments and State agencies purchase more organic and seasonal food and I am delighted to see this reflected in the final green public procurement strategy and action plan approved by Government.”

Minister Hackett concluded: “The future is bright for Irish organic farming. There will be times of the year that we can provide organic food more readily and in much greater supply and those periods might well see much more than 10% organic food being used.

"Equally, there will of course be months when supply may be a bit lower.

"The key will be to hit the 10% figure across the course of the year and I am really looking forward to seeing our State agencies and Government departments contribute to that objective by offering nutritious, tasty organic food, produced in a way that delivers for farmers and for our environment."