Feeding theWorld – The Contribution of IFOAM Principles - Re-Thinking Organic Food and Farming in a Changing World - page 89

Table 5.4 The IFOAM Principles and food demand
Impact on food demand Specific quantitative impact

Health
Foster purchasing of healthy and diverse products

Increase of (bio)diverse production
Increase of healthy environment

Ecology
Link demand for meat-based diets to the carrying
capacity of defined landscapes

Increase of soil fertility

Decrease of water consumption for
food production
Increase of food energy

Fairness
Assure payment for products that includes
environmental and social costs

Increase of an ecologically and
economically viable and sustainable
production

Promote consumption guided by the awareness for
farmers' conditions

Increase of food access and food
security

Include concerns with equity, respect, justice and
stewardship in food consumption practices
Share limited resources fairly
Care
Orient demand with respect to products that are
environmental friendly

Increase of the protection of natural
resources

Encourage food consumption that contributes to
preventive health care

Increase of efficient food consumption

(Common Objectives and Requirements of Organic Standards), hence belongs to the
IFOAM Family of Standards. The IFOAM Standard is an off-the-shelf standard which can
be used by those wanting to outsource standard setting and maintenance and see the benefits
of sharing the work with others and creating synergies on an international level (ibid, 26);
The IFOAM Accreditation Requirements (IAR) establishes requirements for the conduct
of organic certification by the certification body, including procedures and practices of the
operator that the certification body must verify (ibid, 83).”

In order to become an IFOAM Accredited Certification Body (ACB), organiza-
tions must apply either the IFOAM Standards, or a standard that complies with
the IFOAM Standards. The IFOAM Standards and the IFOAM Accreditation
Requirements (IAR) are used by the International Organic Accreditation Ser-
vice (IOAS) in the IFOAM accreditation process for organic certification bodies.
The IOAS evaluates the standards (used by the certifier) against the IFOAM
Standard and certification body performance against the IFOAM Accreditation
Requirements.
A first relevant observation is that while the Principles themselves serve for the
whole organic agrofood chain, the Norms only address the farmers and processors
but not the traders and consumers. This means, that without their inclusion, due to
their significant role in organic, there is no instrument that informs and identifies
the potential the IFOAM Principles have in feeding the world. The relatively weak