Issy Anstey

NO ORGANIC MILK? You might’ve seen it; Pret a Manger have pulled organic milk from some stores. Not because they wanted to, but because their supplier hasn’t enough to go round. That’s not a supply chain hiccup - it’s a warning light. The truth is, there is an organic milk shortage in the UK - it’s not some freak event, it’s been brewing for years, and there’s a few reasons: Some organic farmers have either quit or been pushed out in recent years. Despite financial returns for organic milk finally being where they need to be for organic farmers to farm sustainably, it hasn’t been like this for a long time. It’s taken years of serious graft by so many to make it work and for some it’s been too late. Proper organic herds rely on grass. Grass needs rain. No rain, no milk – and there’s a drought in the UK South Climate change vibes? We’ll let you debate that one. BIG DAIRY treat organic as an ‘add-on’ to win contracts for wider non-organic sales, not something they genuinely believe in. But here’s the worst bit… Some smaller dairies, the ones who genuinely focus on organic, work with the same farmers every week, bottle the milk themselves and can guarantee supply are being pushed out of the supply chain. They have contracts pulled because BIG DAIRY have undercut them. We’ll give you an example of this next week… Then a few months later, those same big processors tell their customers, “Sorry, there’s a shortage… we’ll just send you non-organic instead.” – and THEY GET AWAY WITH IT! It’s no wonder we’re in a mess. We need more organic farmers and plenty want to convert but the process is slow, expensive and stacked against them. The ‘conversion period’ means detoxing land and animals from years of chemical use. It means risk, it means getting paid less while doing more until Organic day and with the bank manager lurking just around the corner with the farm deeds as security, it takes gut and support. We believe organic can be the future for the planet, for our health and for farming but it needs help. For now, if your flat white’s missing organic milk; It’s not a glitch in the system. It is the system.