Organic Veg on a Budget

[Capital]

I read an article a while ago where Gordon Ramsey was asked what he could suggest to people who wish to eat organic veg but are on a tight budget. He said - I think - he would always try and get organic potatoes but wouldn't bother so much with say, brocolli, due to the ways these foods are produced.

I wonder if anyone knows what veg are less affected by being produced chemically?

[Twinklemegan]

Carrots are another one to try to get organically. Any root veg really as it's the bit which stores the chemicals that we eat. Leafy veg aren't so bad because it would be chemical spray mostly which can theoretically be washed off.

But to be honest, you can buy any organic veg on a budget. Our entire shopping budget (food, toiletries and cleaning stuff) is £60 a week and we buy in season organic veg from the local farm shop. Sometimes it's cheaper than the regular stuff in the supermarket.

[Capital]

We have plenty of local farm shops and markets (in kent) but they don't say they are organic particularly just obviously local! I am impressed by your shopping outlay per week, I must say.

[Capital]

Yes Califrau, a list of sorts is what I have in mind. Roots clearly. The rest, apples, pears? P'raps it's googlable.

[UnderRated]

I seem to remember that article too. I think they say soft skinned fruit like peaches. And berries. And fruit where you eat the skin. And bananas.

So that would be fruit then.

Not sure about veg.

[Capital]

fruit should be organic you're saying, UnderRated?

[UnderRated]

I remember reading the article and thinking, I'll find the one or two things that really should be important and won't worry about the others until I can afford to buy all organic. But when I read it, it felt like they listed more or less everything. So I grow my own tomatoes and buy everything more or less not organic.

[notcitrus]

I work on the principle that the chemicals on EU-grown fruit/veg can't be that bad, so I aim for local produce as much as possible, and then organic when it's reduced or only a little bit more expensive, especially for root veg. Anything you peel I don't bother with organicness, again unless it's very cheap.

Having worked on food policy I tend to agree with the FSA that there are no health benefits to organic produce, only benefits to the environment (which still make it worth it, IMO).

At the moment all my food has to be delivered so I'm a bit more at the mercy of Mr Tesco, and prioritising eating lots of fruit/veg over anything else. Luckily lots of British stuff is in season so what turns up tends to be UK or at least nearby EU. But often overpackaged...

I have a few potatoes growing in the garden left over from last year, and some tomatoes that have magically appeared growing next to them!

[Twinklemegan]

I must say I'm generally more concerned about food miles than organicness (I don't think that's a word). Getting organic is a bonus. At the farm shop, for example, the apples come from 20 miles away. At Tesco, right up to the last time I shopped they were coming from Egypt, Brazil, etc. Bugger all from the UK.

[zwiggy]

I heard that the higher the water content of the food then the more important it is to be organic so if you have to make choices an organic cucumber is better than a carrot.

dont know why though

[Capital]

tis confusing. Why is cucumber better than a carrot if there's no health benefit in the first place - if notCitrus is right? hef.

ALSO bloddy Fing supermarkets and their idiot imports infuriate me. I plod about the store scrutinising the packets to see if the bloddy apples are from S. Sodding Africa** and I live in kent, bloddy Land of Apples.

so why.

[notcitrus]

Here's a summary of the FSA's take on organic and healthy food in general:
www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2003/jun/cheltenham

There's a 100-odd page report somewhere on that site from mid-2007, that goes into way more detail on the same lines, noting that organic box schemes for example may well have more nutrients than other veg simply because the contents are fresher!

Like most people I could do with eating more fruit+veg (I tend to get 5-a-day but that number was only picked because it sounded better than 7-a-day and 10-a-day sounded too scary!), so I'll eat any. But I wash beans etc from Africa or Asia very thoroughly.

[greenwitch]

Hiya
I saw a nutritionalist a few years ago while struggling to get pregnant. And she told me the following:

must be organic
apples, peppers, celery, cherries, grapes, nectarines, peaches, pears, potatoes, raspberries, spinach and strawberries

doesn't matter if not organic
asparagus, avocados, bananas, broccoli, cauliflower, sweetcorn, kiwis, mangoes, onions, papaya, pineapple and peas.

Not sure of the logic. But hope it helps!

greenwitch xxx

[UnderRated]

Greenwitch, did they give a reason why those things must be organic?

[greenwitch]

Hiya
It was all about lessening toxins in the body. SO I guess these veg & fruit must be sprayed more than others.
GW

[UnderRated]

Thanks