11 Nov Organic or not Organic, that is the question….?

I have been eating organic food for years now. When the first ‘vegetable box scheme’ started out in our area about 15 years ago I decided to give it a try. I waited in all evening for my delivery, which was incredibly late, and when it did finally arrive I swear most of it was mud! I am all for things being ‘as nature intended’ but that was a bit too much nature, even for me!

Things have changed a lot since those days, it is more convenient, flexible and enjoyable now. Organic is still beautifully natural but there is a lot less mud involved, on the customers part anyway! On top of all that. it has finally been proven that organic food is better for us…… . I knew that years ago, how can it not be? For a start it tastes fantastic and it is not covered with chemicals!

Anyway I know times are hard and food bills are going through the roof so moving over to an all organic diet would mean having to re-mortgage the house but there are some things that are really worth an extra few quid. Here’s a list of what you should buy organically and what you shouldn’t worry too much about.

As an example, a single grape can contain up to 15 pesticides, an average potato has more pesticides by weight than any other food and single samples of celery, cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas and strawberries showed 13 different pesticides apiece. It’s scary isn’t it?

These are ‘The Dirty Dozen
Apples, strawberries, grapes, celery, peaches, spinach, peppers, nectarines, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas/mange tout and potatoes with chilli peppers and kale following on close behind.

And the ‘Clean Fifteen’
Avocados, sweet corn, pineapples, cabbage, peas (frozen), onions, asparagus, mangos, papayas, kiwi, aubergine, grapefruit, melon, cauliflower, sweet potatoes

My kids can tell instantly if their carrots are organic or not, they are in a different realm altogether and one of their friends asked if the peas on his plate were from our allotment because they tasted so good, they weren’t but they were organic and that’s the difference.

I pick and choose what I buy organically, my fruit and veg usually is, my meat is higher welfare, my tins and baking goods are generally organic but most cereals aren’t. It is almost impossible to be totally organic and like I said, it can be quite expensive.

Check out Abel and Cole’s boxes, they are great value and they offer amazing customer service too.