Consumers will now easily be able to identify locally grown, organic food in Manitoban grocery stores. Last week the Manitoba Food Processors Association (MFPA) announced their new Manitoba Organic logo, which MFPA member producers can choose to put on their organic products.

The MFPA already has a similar label for local products -- the Manitoba Made logo -- and from the success it's seen, executive director Dave Shambrock thinks the new organic label will be just as prosperous.

"I don't even want to call it a trend anymore to buy local, it's well beyond a trend. It's a very dominant driving force with a lot of consumers. More and more people want to be more aware of the origin of their food," he says.

He says this encouragement for consumers to buy local, will in turn create more sales for Manitoban farmers and processors.

"That includes not just the produce and the commodity meats and such," he says, "it's also the packaged products that they buy, those that have been processed or had some value added to them. So that's the reason to have this identifier -- because there's just so many different options at a market or in a grocery store."

Shambrock says consumers may already see the new logo on products in their local grocery stores, and should continue to look for more soon.