Organic vs normal fruit and vegetables

Depends on your point of view:

organic = less pesticides = less carcinogenits = lesser potential health risks
"ordinary" = cheaper to buy = unknown pesticides = potentially greater health risks.

Price vs health vs personal priorities.

Also depends on your idea of being a "gambler" Do you want to gamble with your health? Or gamble with your money?

I have a weekly organic box of fruit and veg delivered, I chose the organic route for health reasons and because I've got 2 toddlers who munch their way through lots of fruit and veg, and I was worried about the amount of pesticides in non-organic stuff.

It does work out more expensive, however I think I'm spending less than before. I don't need to go to the supermarket as often, so shopping bills have reduced, I'm also not throwing away any veg or fruit thats gone off because I make sure it all gets used up as its organic and not cheap!

Its quite exciting waiting to see whats in the box each week (oh, am I really sad getting excited about veg!). We've had some veg I never normally would buy so then we have to do internet searches looking for recipes, which has been great fun and we've made some lovely stuff. Celariac and Apple salad for example!

I will also be growing some of my own stuff in the summer (tomatoes, runner beans, lettuce) but the box scheme I use allows me to exclude any fruit or veg I don't want or need so I won't end up with an overload of tomatoes!

I think we're eating healthier since getting an organic box and I'm really pleased with the quality of the veg we've had. And I think it definately tastes better. Mmm mouth watering at the thought of the juicy organic orange I had today!

Tried several OG box schemes in London and always been disappointed. Some of the stuff was in very poor condition. Also you generally have very little say in what is delivered, though some will allow you to specify a few dislikes. My sister used one in Leicestershire some years ago and it was excellent. We're in north London and now we make the journey down to old Spitalfields Market on a Sunday morning and always buy from the same grower. There is definitely a taste difference for some things, but not necessarily so if you get them from the supermarket since even if it's OG in the supermarket it has still been picked half ripe, shipped around the world and half way round this country and the supermarkets insist on silly standards based on size and looks rather than genuine food/flavour qualities. From a market it is much cheaper; still more than non-OG of course, but we have prioritised this within our budget.

I'm not sure I would buy as much OG if we were stuck with supermarket produce though; I'd rather find a farmer's market and buy fresh produce there, OG or not. The fresher the produce, generally the better it tastes and certainly the more nutritious it is.

I know that there are some groups of people who have teamed up to share the trek to old Spitalfields. They effectively operate their own box scheme, but share the effort of going to pick stuff up. Saves on time and cost and you get much better produce.

Was just wandering which box scheme Krishna used in London? - am thinking about getting one too. My food budget is about ten pounds a week (for one person) and I can get a box of organic vegetables and fruit for this amount, delivered too my door by a company called 'Farmaround.' Just wanted to find out if you had tried out this company?
- I'd prefer to buy straight from the market, but I work weekdays and weekends so its v. difficult to find the time to get to their - plus this company only charge £1 for delivery and it would cost me at least £2 on the tube!

Yes, I also like the idea of having a veg box challenge every week - Would save me from lunchbox/recipe boredom! (if i end up buying any more peppers I may scream!)
Also if its all there in a box I wont be tempted to stop and buy fruit from the stall on the way to work all the time!