As an international market glut crushes the prices for New Zealand Braeburn apples to $7 per carton, the same apples produced organically are fetching around $35 per carton, Green Party Agriculture Spokesperson Ian Ewen-Street said today.

Mr Ewen-Street, himself an organic farmer, said this was merely another example of the opportunity New Zealand faced in going organic.

"Time and time again we see that New Zealand cannot compete in terms of volume and needs to establish profitable niche markets. Prices for organic produce are soaring on the international market as people become less and less trusting about the safety of the food they are eating," he said.

"The niche for New Zealand is clearly organics. We trade heavily on our clean, green image but were we to take the step of becoming an organic nation, we could be certain of constant demand and high prices for all our food exports," he said."It would be the best thing New Zealand could do for both farmers and for the health and prosperity of the country.

"This is the Green Party vision for the future of New Zealand."

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