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Organic or Non-Organic – You Decide

healthy_food_1.jpgOrganic food has taken something of a bashing in the past couple of months.  We’re constantly being asked what are the benefits and can we afford it?

We know the credit crunch is biting hard; so does that mean we cut back on organic food – is it a luxury or a necessity?  You decided.

Surprisingly for some, organic food is not always more expensive it really depends on how and what you buy. This is the time to reassess your shopping habits and make creative changes to the way you cook and plan your menus.

The Soil Association’s top tips for organic food on a budget:
  • Go for local and seasonal organic produce
  • Buy your food from direct sources, such as your local farmers’ market, co-op or your nearest vegetable box scheme
  • Cook fresh fruit and vegetables from scratch
  • Avoid over-packaged convenience foods
  • Reduce your meat intake
  • Use your leftovers imaginatively to avoid waste
  • Use herbs and spices to make a little go a long way
For example an £8 organic chicken could be used for up to four meals:
–         roasted
–         in a sandwich
–         in a risotto
–         and then the bones can be boiled up to make a tasty soup stock

Key reasons to support organic food and farming:
Organic food is produced from a natural and sustainable system of agriculture which avoids the use of pesticides and prohibits synthetic fertilisers and GM ingredients.  To put it simply organic food and farming is better for you and your children, better for farmers, better for animals, better for wildlife and better for the planet.

Better for you and your children
Studies of organic food have shown that on average it has higher levels of iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, chromium, vitamin C and a higher dry matter content.

Better for farmers
The Soil Association report ‘Organic works’ demonstrates organic farming is creating more jobs, revitalising rural economies and encouraging younger, happier people into agriculture.

Organic farming is helping to reverse the decline in the UK's agricultural workforce, which has fallen by 80% in the last 50 years.

Better for animals
No system of farming has higher levels of animal welfare standards than organic farms working to Soil Association standards.

Better for wildlife
Around 31,000 tonnes of chemicals are used in farming in the UK each year to kill weeds, insects and other pests that attack crops. In organic farming, natural methods are used.

Better for the planet
On average UK organic farming uses 26% less energy per tonne of food produced. This is mainly due to the non-use of fertilisers, which are the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in agriculture and the single largest source of nitrous oxide emissions in the world.

The Future of Food Production - soil not oil 
The future of food production lies in systems which take nitrogen from the air to fertilise crops using the suns energy - as with organic farming - rather than burning up increasingly scarce supplies of oil and natural gas to produce fertilisers and pesticides - as used in non organic farming.

Ten tips for organic living

1. Sign-up to an organic box scheme
soilassociation.org/directory

2. Create an organic buying group
www.essential-trading.co.uk

3. Join your local Community Supported Agriculture project
www.soilassociation.org/csa

4. Grow your own
www.gardenorganic.org.uk

5. Keep your own chickens
www.soilassociation.org/masterclasses
 
6. Always read the label

7. Help revolutionise school meals
www.foodforlife.org.uk

8. Source Organic Foods
www.organic-supermarket.co.uk

9. Visit an organic farm
www.soilassociation.org/farmvisits

10. Join the Soil Association
www.soilassociation.org/joinus
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