Why be Certified?

What is Organic September?

Organic September is a whole month dedicated to celebrating organic farming, organic produce, and the environmental benefits of living and buying organic.

Being natural and organic is at the very centre of what we do and we wanted to share with you the benefits and reasons we have gone one step further and are certified by Soil Association.

History of organic farming in the UK

Due to the First World War farming in the UK changed when governments wanted to increase the production of food due to shortages. This caused farmers to stop farming organically and use pesticides and chemicals to improve their crop yields.

After the Second World War, the Soil Association was founded by Lady Eve Balfour in 1946 after conducting experiments on different farming techniques. They divided Lady Eve’s farm into 3 different ways of farming: one intensively farmed, one organically farmed and one a mixture of both. The results of the experiment showed that growing organically didn’t adversely affect the yield of the crops and that, in fact, there could be evidence to suggest the crops had a healthier overall presence – improved soil health, crop resilience and biodiversity.

However, the tide had already shifted to using synthetic pesticides and fertilisers and the majority of our farms still use synthetic pesticides and fertilisers today.

How Non-Organic Products Impact Our Lives

Organic farming helps eliminate chemicals which synthetic pesticides and fertilisers contain. Using these synthetic chemicals can affect the health of the soil, our food, and pollute our water systems via runoff. When these chemicals are consumed by humans they can cause DNA damage, Parkinson's disease, various cancers, asthma, diabetes, depression and anxiety.*

Chemicals are also absorbed through our skin when using beauty products (70% of what we apply to our skin is then processed by our livers). Resulting in possible skin irritation, hormone imbalance, organ toxicity, and can even raise the risk of cancer.

What is Soil Association and How Does it Help Us Make a Change

The Soil Association is a charity and a global pioneer of the organic movement. They work with businesses and farmers to support organic means of production; and help the public to identify truly organic products and not just the use of the word ‘organic’ for greenwashing purposes.

Soil Association works hard to educate us all on the positive benefits of organic farming to reduce pollution, conserve water, reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility, and use less energy.

At Willow Beauty, we know it is difficult to understand the difference between what is truly organic and natural and what is clever marketing-speak. We signed up to Soil Association certification from the start so that you know we are an organic brand to be trusted.

Sue Stowell, founder of Willow, says “We chose to have Soil Association certification so our customers know what is in our products and that all of our ingredients are genuinely organic. When brands have no certification, there is no proof”.

How Can We Help Make a Change

• Supporting and buying organic products during our weekly shop, even if it is only 1 item

• Grow small herbs organically at home

• Find where your nearest organic farm or farm shop is and support them by buying their produce, volunteer work or donating

• Plant butterfly and bee friendly flowers and plants in your garden or on your patio – our pollinators are badly affected by the use of pesticides on non-organic farms and need protection

*sources: Scientific American and Healthline websites