Organic Researcher

CPA questions use of celebrity in promoting organic food

08/09/2006 11:46:00Farmers Weekly

The use of celebrities to promote organic food as a healthier option to conventionally produced food has been questioned by the Crop Protection Association, an industry body that defends the use of agro-chemicals.Anne Buckenham, director of policy at the CPA, has called for more emphasis to be placed on the science rather than the opinion of celebrities paid to promote one system over another.

In a letter to last weekend’s Sunday Telegraph (3 September) Dr Buckenham expressed alarm at an article that suggested the public was more willing to trust celebrities than scientists over issues of food safety and quality.”It is surely pushing the cult of the celebrity to the point of absurdity when the personal opinions of just one individual - in this case Donna Air, the new face of the Soil Association - can outweigh the science-based evidence provided by expert and impartial institutions such as the Food Standards Agency and the Pesticide Residues Committee,” she wrote.

CPA questions use of celebrity in promoting organic food

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