Organic food for thought

One or two people who know me have wondered if I might get my knickers in a twist at the news that organic food is no better for health than factory farmed food.

Not really, is the answer.

Health and nutrition have always been very low down the list of reasons I would choose organic food over a synthetic alternative, if I had the option. Think about it. If I was that concerned about health matters, I would have a very different relationship with lager than the one I have now.

No, the reason I would plump for organic is that the label often implies a lot of other good stuff too. For starters, organically raised livestock is free range. Anyone who has watched the various documentaries on battery farmed chickens and still doesn't think this is an important issue is just a savage, if you ask me.

And the general nature of the people who are behind the organic food industry means that organic products are likely to have all kinds of other ethical credentials too. Fairtrade? Sometimes. Local? Where possible. High standard of animal welfare/husbandry? Every time. Farmed in a sustainable way? Absolutely.

And that's before you even start considering the effect of pesticides and the likes on the environment itself.

Mostly though, I like the fact that organic options exist because it makes some people think about where their food has come from and how it is produced. You don't have to be a lentil eating leftie to be concerned about these things either.

The introduction of organic options helped kick start a revolution to attitudes towards food in this country, with people demanding more of their supermarkets, some even turning their backs on poor quality, over-packaged (and over priced!), tasteless sludge.

In a country where some 'Concrete Children' don't even recognise an onion when they see one, surely that's been a good thing.