Nov 07
This is a new section of the website which provides information on what is happening on the organic front across the water in the UK. It contains publications from the North West Centre which we are fortunate to have so close to us in the UK. The NW Centre is part of an organic initiative right across the north of England, with centres in the NW, Yorkshire and the NE.

Lucinda Kirby, Assistant Organic Development Officer at the North-West Organic Centre (NWOC) near Preston in Lancashire tells us below what the NWOC is and what it does, and then there are links through to 3 sets of publications:

1. Organic North – this is a publication which tells you what is happening where in organics in the region covering NW, Yorkshire and NE England.
2. Local Organic – where to buy fresh, local organic in each of the 3 sub-regions, NW, Yorkshire and NE. The NW one includes shops, cafes and catering; farm gate sales, box schemes, farm trails and accommodation; internet sales and mail order; for each of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The Yorkshire and NE ones do the same for their sub-regions. If you are going to use them on your visits to the UK, please check individual references by telephone first! As with any publication, it is out of date as soon as it is published!
3. The Northern Newsletter provides more up to date information on what is happening, and is a more regular publication than Organic North. We include the one which is issued by and has some features on the NW, the area nearest to us.

Altogether, they provide a really good insight into organic action in the north of England.

I should add here that the Northwest Organic Centre does not provide a service to us here on the Isle of Man. We receive these publications as a courtesy from the NWOC and we thank them for their continued supply.

Lucinda says: ‘The Northwest Organic Centre (NWOC) supports the development of organic food and farming in Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside.

We are here to provide down to earth advice on all aspects of organic production and consumption - producers considering organic conversion, existing organic businesses, retailers looking for new products and for consumers looking for places to buy organic produce.

The NWOC is a project managed by the Soil Association, the leading charity supporting organic farming in the UK. This enables the Centre to deliver a wide range of services and to be in tune with the development of the organic sector throughout the UK.

The NWOC is funded through the Northwest Development Agency via Food NW.’

For Organic North and the Organic Newsletter, some historical issues are included because they contain some interesting content. This section will be updated with new ones when they are received. For Local Organic, only the latest issue is included.

Please click on the one you wish to read. The following newsletters are available in Adobe PDF format (see note on right). These can be read online or printed for reading later.

Organic North – Summer 07, Autumn 07, Winter 07, Spring 08, Summer 08

Local Organic – NW, Yorkshire, NE

Northern Organic Newsletter – May 07, Sept 07, Dec 07, March 08