Organic veg

Crazy88

Thanks Chloe99 very useful - not much in it then...

I try to buy organic at Tesco and try to grow my own (had lots of green beans, potatoes, squash, spinach, cabbage and a little sweetcorn and brocolli so far this year).

We've also bought a book about seasonal eating(I can give name if anyone wants it).

charliedavis

Hey we got moved - what fun my first topic to be moved

metro_gnome

I've been a Riverford customer for several months and really like the way I can choose a box according to size and ingredients. Almost all are home grown and we've had some really fascinating veg. (There was a cauliflower that had pyramid shaped florets!)

Don't know about comparative prices but the stuff is really fresh and I'm not so keen on supporting the big supermarkets that seem to squeeze small suppliers dry.

Large box (£12) this week has

tomatoes
brussel sprouts
january king cabbage
calabrese
carrots
cauliflower
celeriac
onions
parsnips
cosmos potatoes
butternut squash
swede

This doesn't give weights, unfortunately but they have a list of extras: eg Brussel Sprouts 1kg net is £2

My 14 year old reckons he's never tasted satsumas like theirs.

System

as i said above, have a look on https://www.whyorganic.org you have to sign up but they don;t send junk mail and then you can find out all the places in the area. i think there are box delivery schemes all over the country now.  :)

I did and I found some ;D! Thank you for the link Rach

tubbsandeddie

Check out this site for lists of suppliers, local and national.
http://www.alotoforganics.co.uk/cats/organic-vegetables.php

Caterina

Hi all

I think that when making comparisons in price between organic boxes and supermarkets' organic prices it would be useful not to look at the price only, but at the wider cost that supermarkets are charging our local communities.

Take for example: the disappearing of local shops, the promotion of overpackaging, the environmental effect of driving into the supermarkets' car parks, the human cost (illegal labourers, workforce exploitation etc...), petrol consumption for transporting (e.g.) beetroots from Spain and apples from New Zealand when both grow just as well in the UK.

I could go on and on and on....

A lot of these issues have been beautifully highlighted by Felicity Lawrence, Guardian journalist, in her book 'Not on the Label' that I know a few of us here are well familiar with. HIghly recommended if you never heard of it before but want to become more informed about what you buy and eat - you'll never buy a bagged salad again, even if it has been reduced to 5p!!!

I know that if someone is very cash-strapped all the environmental considerations in the world go down the pan, but I also think that it is possible to 'shop with a conscience' and still remain within a reasonable budget - as moneysavers, most of us are used to cooking from scratch and implement savings that a lot of people out there consider a bit outlandish (giving up the car?)...

Ok, off my Green soapbox now!

Ciao all

Caterina

Caterina

Thanks Chloe99 very useful - not much in it then...

(had lots of green beans, potatoes, squash....

How did you manage to get lots of squash? They always die in my garden before they are ready (they go brown and rot). Last year I managed a few green kabochas, this year my butternuts died miserably....

Caterina

Chriswil

One of my friends is a chemist who works at the CSL which is the governments central science laboratory.

I was talking to him about the book 'Not on the Label' by Felicity Lawrence. He very much believes in fact, and will argue to the death about something he knows not to be true.

He shocked me by telling me that pesticides can still be used on organic produce! Certain chemicals can be used which differ only very slightly from the mainstream chemicals used on our fruit and veg.

He asked me what I believed organic to mean and I responded with the answer that I believe most people would give - fruit and veg produced without any pesticide present. I then received about an hours lecture on how I shouldn't believe all that I am told!

I just think this is something worth thinking about. Any comments? If you have any questions then please pm me or post them and i'll ask him to respond.

I'll need to keep him anonymous, but I guarantee that his answers will be concise and accurate - he has a Phd in chemistry relating to pesticides. Even if you want to test this fact then please let me know, i'll post what he replies but i can't guarantee that any of us will understand it!

raeble

I've heard that and I believe it. It's one of the reasons that unless I'm growing it myself, I don't tend to bother with organic. They can use all sorts of things on the crops and still call themselves organic.

It's a bit like freerange eggs and chickens, watchdog a few years back went to a several of the farms and found they were in worse conditions than battery hens. There was 12,000 birds in a barn, they did have small openings, but the vast majority would never have left the barn.

At the end of the day these people are out to make money. If they think they can make more money by organic or freerange they will do it.

So what did your friend make of the book then?

Magentasue

I'm wouldn't be surprised if Riverford workedout more expensive than supermarket organic but I'm willing to pay more because:

1) Most of it comes from a farm in the region and it is fresher and keeps longer

2) It saves me a supermarket trip mid-week - I would never come back with just fruit and veg. I can now shop once a week for six of us if I freeze milk. I only use frozen veg as an emergency item or for those can't be a*s*d days.

I would LOVE an allotment but there's a four year waiting list here. I grow a lot of stuff organically in the garden but not enough for all of us and certainly not all year round.