In light of Organic Month, Organix invited us to speak about what being organic meant to us as a family.
To be entirely honest, we’ve not done much in the way of organic shopping until quite recently courtesy of an online shop swap item which introduced us to the most scrumptious organic strawberries from Tesco!
Though “organic” to me, has always meant no pesticides, no added chemicals and that the contents are literally just what the packet says, I’ve always been a little skeptical of whether this is completely true. I’ve always assumed that organic food is also more expensive – the premium you pay for a better quality product but my belief in it has always been questionable.
I’ve always felt uncomfortable about the taste of general fruit and vegetables in the UK – they never really taste that amazing and are generally lacking in flavour (we travel a lot and we’ve probably been quite spoilt!) unless locally sourced. It led to us creating our own vegetable patch and growing our own produce including courgettes, marrows, onions and potatoes.
After the Tesco swap incident and being introduced to organic strawberries that are now religiously on our weekly shop, I decided to take a closer look at what exactly “organic” means and whether my judgement was clouded.
By definition “Organizations regulating organic products may restrict the use of certain pesticides and fertilizers in farming. In general, organic foods are also usually not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents or synthetic food additives”. However in the UK, any food companies claiming to be “organic”, selling food with an organic label, are regulated by governmental food safety authorities.
I was wrong in assuming that organic food contained no added chemicals and I think it’s fair to say that I’ve definitely learnt a lot while scouring the internet researching. More so learning about just how bad non organic produce may be for the environment and for our general health. Chemicals such as copper sulfate, hydrogen peroxide and synthetic pesticides used in conventional farming can have serious harmful effects on our health – many of which I was alarmed to read about. It made me question whether that’s why there seem to have been a rise in the last decade or so of serious illnesses – is it what we are eating? I think so.
The thought of our non organic produce being laced with harmful pesticides and fertilizers doesn’t sit well with me at all. Especially the thought of my kids consuming that food. As a vegetarian, i also feel a sense of responsibility towards the animals and environment that these pesticides and fertilizers are also harming – I must admit, till now, I didn’t realise the impact that some of these toxic chemicals had on animals.
As a family, we have made a switch to organic produce where possible to limit the amount we pollute our bodies and also to protect the environment. Thankfully, our go to snacks for the boys by Organix, are all made of organic produce.
What are your thoughts on organic produce? Do you have any tips?
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post in the form of remuneration however all views expressed above are our own.
