ORGANIC TOMATOES IN THE UK - bad for the planet!The proposed development is specifically for organic tomato production which is a 'wolf in sheep's clothing' .The photo probably shows carbon dioxide being delivered but the real debate is about the amount of gas burnt to grow organic tomatoes. According to a DEFRA report - 'Environmental Impacts of Food Production', and information from the Soil Association it’s necessary to burn 30% more gas to grow organic- rather than standard glasshouse tomatoes in the UK, because of poor crop yields Glasshouse tomato production generates more carbon dioxide per ton than any other British crop tested.
Organic tomatoes were two hundred times more damaging than organic carrots, nearly a hundred times worse than organic potatoes and ten times worse than egg production. According to The Independent.19/02/07 Organic tomatoes grown in heated UK greenhouses generate one hundred times the amount of Co2 per kilogram produced in unheated greenhouses in southern Spain. In the light of these statistics a large area of new organic glasshouses would be against the policy on climate change (see the Government Stern report). Loss of BIODIVERSITY another problem - Housewives pay a premium for organic produce partly thinking they are improving the environment somewhere with an increase in insect and bird life ,this is true for organic field crops -but the opposite occurs with organic glasshouse crops with a sudden drop in all species when a field is incased in glass

