Aude a la bio, the big organic festival organised by Nature et Progres Aude is back in Couiza on the weekend of 6th and 7th August. Because of COVID restrictions Aude a la bio has been held on private property at the Domaine du Grès Vaillant which while it was a great venue is nowhere near as central as Couiza and did not really have enough space for the full range of events that usually take place at Aude a la bio. But nevertheless a huge tank you must be extended to our hosts, and their wonderful horses, for such a warm welcome under difficult conditions. 

Aude a la bio could not come at a better time, organic agriculture is being hit badly by the rise in the cost of living here in France. For the first time in a decade it looks likely that sales year on year of organic food will stall rather than rise. With diesel at over 2 euro a litre, organic feed prices going through the ceiling, increasingly restrictive rules for free range chickens, and the Consumer Price Index inflation rate standing at 2.75% against a stagnation in wages it is not surprising that “premium” quality products are being hit. 

Aude a la bio is a superb opportunity to re enforce the key arguments for organic agriculture in the Aude, to give value to the increasing numbers of small scale organic farmers re energising the countryside of this poor department. After years of rural flight organic agriculture represents a real opportunity to repopulate our villages, and manage sustainably the amazing natural environment in which we live, and reverse the aging of the rural population.

It is also a good party and a chance to meet up with other local producers who I have not seen for months.

Well done Nature et Progres Aude for all the hard work it takes to organise an event like this. I thought doing our Foire aux Plantes in Maisons was hard enough work and that was a tenth of the size.