What the government now needs to do is make sure there are better incentives for farmers who want to convert

Patrick Holden Soil Association director

More people are buying organic food more often and are prepared to spend more on it.

The report has found that more than 65% of UK households made an organic purchase during the year, compared with 37.2% two years previously.

This represents a 6.6 million increase in the number of homes buying organic.

The report says the market was anchored by a committed core of 7% of consumers, who were responsible for 57% of purchases.

Importantly, this group of shoppers consistently stated they were prepared to pay more for organic foods.

Clouds on horizon

The market, now worth more than �600m, grew by 50%.

But the report sees some significant clouds on an otherwise bright horizon.

These include supermarket price wars, concern over the watering down of organic standards and the growing reliance on imports.

Last year, 75% of the organic food in UK shops was imported - up 5% on the year before.

The Soil Association is critical of what it sees as the government's lack of support for organic agriculture.

The market is anchored by a core of buyers

Given the current crisis, it says it is time to rethink the way the UK farms work and move away from production-led subsidies and encourage more green farming practices.

Soil Association director Patrick Holden said: "The sad thing is that too few are buying British produce because 75% of organic food is imported.

"What the government now needs to do is make sure there are better incentives for farmers who want to convert."

He added: "So, after the foot-and-mouth crisis is over we would have a better chapter ahead based on consumer power changing the way we farm."