To ask about organic food

[Decafftea]

I'm a lone parent to 14 month old dd. I'm on a worryingly tight budget - £90 a week after bills, so that has to cover food, petrol, clothing, everything.

I manage to buy nearly all organic food from Tesco for £50 a week as long as I keep meat to a minimum but it's still a struggle to make ends meet as there always seems to be something extra in addition to food that needs to be bought. I could do the shop for less at Aldi or even if I just bought non-organic from Tesco but I really worry about the effect of pesticides, especially on DD.

However I read somewhere the other day that buying organic is pointless though as pretty much everything is contaminated by something in the air/water? I can't remember the name of it, possibly started with 'd'?

Am I wasting money (that I really can't afford to waste) on organic food or is it better, if only slightly, than non organic?

Google dirty dozen and clean 15. There are some foods which have a thick peel for example (e.g. avocados) where there is no point in buying organic. Others, it apparently makes more of a difference.

However, remember that organic farms still use some pesticides- but the ones that fall within the guidelines for organic farming.

What might be better is to see if there is a local farm that sells cheap veg boxes, even if they do not have organic status. I did that for a while and it was much cheaper than buying from the supermarket.

Also- aldi do organic food like carrots, apples, milk, eggs etc. Definitely give that a go to reduce your food bills. I also used to shop at tesco but swapped to Aldi and saved loads.

Thanks! I thought Aldi didn't do organic so I will definitely try there! Also there are lots of farms around here so I'll look into veg boxes.

And even better try to grow some of your own.

I live in a top floor flat with not even a balcony unfortunately! Wouldn't have the time to devote to an allotment either sadly

I think given that you're on a budget, you should prioritise.

Some products like beef and lamb are fairly safe to buy non-organic, if produced in the U.K, as sheep and beef cattle tend to be grass fed and are not too intensive. So in terms of welfare, non organic is fine.

Other products such as milk, eggs, chicken and pork would be best got organically.

Milk: organic cows can be given antibiotics if they need them but the milk is withdrawn for three times as long. Also things like zero grazing aren't allowed in organic herds, so welfare is noticeably higher.

Eggs: organic means proper free range, not 17,000 hens in one shed that has access to outside but in practice a lot of the hens never venture out.

Pork and chicken :normally produced intensively if not organic, so best avoided.

I'd better declare my bias, my family and I are organic dairy farmers! But like you I am on a budget so whilst I'd love to get everything organic I just can't. So I prioritise. What I don't get organically I buy either in the coop (because all their meat is now British) or local butcher.

Thanks Summer that's really helpful

Also note it isn't organic if it has come halfway round the planet by air and is out of season. There are more ways of stuffing up the planet than pesticides.

Thanks summer! That's super helpful