Photo Courtesy of Nature & More

Vokert Engelsmann, Nature & More founder, is thrilled with this new development.

A Dutch scientific institute, Wageningen University & Research Centre, investigated the fundamental sustainability accomplishments of organic agriculture and found that organic agriculture, in most cases, performs better than non-organic agriculture.

According to the December 7, 2011 report, Perspectief op duurzaamheid (“An outlook on sustainability”), organic soil management increases soil fertility and benefits biodiversity and water-holding capacity while reducing erosion, wash-out, greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution.

The report states that innovation is necessary to stay truly sustainable.

Volkert Engelsmann, IFOAM World board member and founder of Nature & More, says, “The results of the study show us that we need a workable model. Our sustainability flower, which was developed by a European think-tank consisting of organic pioneers like Helmy Abouleish from Sekem, offers just that. Through Nature & More, we have implemented the sustainability flower since 2004, for more transparency about fresh organic fruits and vegetables”

Nature & More is a quality-assurance program of EOSTA, a Dutch company that deals in organic and bio-dynamic fruit and vegetables. The sustainability flower is a graphic on Nature & More’s website in which each flower petal represents a piece of agriculture. Clicking on each separate petal describes the importance of every individual aspect of agriculture.

Visit Nature & More for more information.

Visit the Wageningen University & Research Centre here.