THE GEOGRAPHY OF ORGANIC FARMING IN ENGLAND AND WALES IN THE 1990s.

Little research has been conducted on the changing geographical distribution of organic farming in England and Wales in the 1990s. Using officially published secondary data, this paper examines the changing patterns of organic farming between 1993 and 1997, based on the number of organic farms, the area devoted to organic farming, the number of exits from and conversions to organic farming, and specific organic enterprises. The analysis indicates a process of spatial rationalisation, in which organic farming is becoming increasingly concentrated in a core area in Central-Southern England. Further, more detailed work is required, of both an empirical and conceptual nature, before a full explanation of such patterns can be given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]