Going fully organic is a pain in the arse?

[Tressle]

There's just the two of us at home now, we love cooking, so after a good amount of research, including what we have heard over the years, we decided to try going as fully organic as possible last year.
We didn't think it would change our lives or help us to live longer, just something we cared about and wanted to support, and some of the stuff is delicious and not always pricey.

I can look back now and whilst I don't regret it at all, it has become a royal pain in the arse. Obviously it is more difficult to source, even though we make use of local farms (sadly lacking), an organic delivery service and finding it in supermarkets when we can.

But sourcing is still a mess. We are happy with seasonal veg, and can find some variations of organic meat that we both like, but local supplies seem to be dwindling, as I just presume there isn't as big a market for it where we are as there used to be. 3 of our big supermarkets pretty much stopped offering organic chicken in the past few years, and quality online has been a gamble to be honest. We prefer to see meat, fish and eggs before buying, so it becomes even more bloody tricky.

Even stuff that should be in season is often difficult to locate, and trying to get everything from organic delivery services is not as easy as it might seem.

We are certainly not 'afraid' of pesticides, but really wanted to support smaller farms and help the environment. I also appreciate that there are still enviro issues with organic farming as well as regular, so not blind to that.

It's got to a point where planning the week's shopping is becoming a chore, even though we can buy jars and longer shelf life stuff in bulk, the fresh side is often a gamble. We planned a few meals around mixed peppers and tomatoes this week yet could locate none.

Probably time to slacken it, maybe?
Perhaps just prioritise some stuff over others?
I know many people think organic is a rip off or just as problematic as non organic, and there is scant evidence of pesticides causing tangible harm to humans, but we did really want to do it.
We don't spend a lot in other areas of our lives so have been able to afford it, but it's really becoming a giant bollock as I just wanted to slap a 3 pack of red non organic peppers into the trolley yesterday and not give a shit

buy the organic when you can get it and if you can’t get a specified item - buy the standard stuff - or change what you have for dinner.

Yeah just go back to normal

This isn't a huge failing

Thanks.
I don't think it's a 'failing', but I do think it's a lot more difficult than it seemed to begin with.

Lots of hullaballoo out there about glyphosate but then again I have no idea what the alternatives even are or how safe, if we want to get down to gritty details.

Perhaps I need to find out far more than I know, I doubt many people are fully organic, perhaps the King, I have no idea!

I've had to slacken off significantly after moving from a city to more rurally with less choice of shops.
Non-organic veg I soak in bicarb for a couple of hours, it should get most of the pesticides off. Have a look at the dirty dozen and clean fifteen lists so you can know what's a big deal and what isn't.
I figured eating a wide variety of fruit and veg was probably more healthy than restricting my choices - I won't eat things like spinach non-organic though.

For meat, you can bulk order from an organic farm and freeze?

I do my planning the other way round, see what we get in our box and plan our menu around that. A bonus from doing that is I am a bit more adventurous. If I fancy something in particular, I'll order that veg extra.

We get our eggs in our Riverford delivery, I'm not bothered about seeing them first, except to make sure they're not broken, and they never have been. I've also been happy with the meat I've bought sight unseen.

For me, the taste is far superior, but that's not just because it's organic.

We get our organic milk delivered by Milk & More.

(We are not 100% organic though!)

This is how we started, a similar train of thought.
I think watching some tim spector stuff encouraged us to give it a go, iirc.

Since the dirty dozen list changes so often it is also a pain in the rear. I hear potatoes, tomatoes, oats and spinach are the worst. Then it's all high water content veg (cucumber, etc). And the list goes on...you can get a bit lost. Time to do a bit if thinking.

If you aren’t fully organic, but want to make some switches, then it’s the dirty dozen you want to target as they have the highest amount of pesticides
https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/dirty-dozen.php

I definitely stick with organic for oats, but that easily enough done. Bread, you could bake your own in a breadmaker maybe, if you're struggle to find nice organic bread? I find Dove Farm flours really good.

We've got a very good local small scale butcher/greengrocer who only butchers rare breed animals and shot game from the local area, so I buy from them with confidence too even though they're not strictly speaking organic - if I can see its baby pictures on fb or drive past it in the pasture, I'm pretty confident with what's on my plate.

Maybe you could try growing a few bits in the garden. Spinach is so easy to grow, and you can grow it in the garden, or in pots. It’s one you can direct sow outside and grows really quickly.

Blueberry plants for example look really nice and do well in pots. Raspberries are very easy and prolific. Chard is really low maintenance. There are huge decorative amaranths that you can grow in borders and pick leaves to eat. And if you have a south facing fence grape vines provide coverage

Thank you, that's really informative! I'm quite exposed and far north but this has motivated me to get that greenhouse.

We are as organic as possible. I shop in Sainsbury's and buy a lot of their organic range. But if I cant get it for something I will buy regular. I have been trying to find organic gluten free flour though which is almost impossible. Seems hard to buy organic bread too. But we do ok with most staples. I try my best but don't stress it too much.

Then I wonder why the hell I bother as my housing company were spraying herbicides around the neighbourhood this morning 🙄🙄

Yes, it's everywhere, best not to worry about it, the local councils use it, you can't really escape that sadly.

I have had great luck with both M&S and Ocado organic, always reliable and stay fresh. M&S organic meat has worked very well, always delicious, no issues, but often out of stock.

Sadly the two famous UK organic veg companies have been hit and miss. We have had dodgy meat from both on a couple of occasions and whilst given a refund, it was simply assumed that it was our fault. I have only found one other report of such (on here somewhere) where a family also received rotten meat from one of them and they were told the use by dates are put on as a legal requirement but don't mean anything!

It's a shame because I loved their produce, even if some were often past their best on delivery.

As for bread, I love Celtic Bakers sourdough and Doves farm flour for home baking. Also, the brand 'Wildfarmed' are not organic but regenerative farms who don't use glyphosate on their wheat. I have seen them in Tesco so must be widely available now. They also have minimal ingredients and do buns, loaves and crumpets!

Ah, apologies @bedfrog I see you need gluten free.

Spinach, kale, peas, pak choi, mangetout, mizuna, beetroot and chard are cold hardy and can go out before the last frost. I had mine out start of March (south east). And they can be re-sown end of summer for the autumn too. So you could play about with no greenhouse and see what you get. A bit of horticultural fleece draped over them protects them from the worst of the weather.

I honestly was so disappointed with the local organic boxes- loads of celeriac, mushy past its best spinach and lettuce, mangy looking carrots. I’m a beginner grower but already harvesting enough greens for the family every other day for the last few weeks.

For a wider range of sources (organic and otherwise) this database is life changing:

https://farmstofeedus.org/

Scroll straight to ‘View the Database’ and on the next page right at the very bottom of the page in tiny letters click National and Local database. View in landscape on something larger than your phone.

How do they do with rabbits, out of interest? Wild ones I mean? Would I lose the crop to them?

Have you tried Riverford?

I agree it's hard! We made the switch at the start of this year but I'd say we're probably about 70% organic now. I mainly shop in Sainsbury's and M&S as their organic ranges are better locally than the other supermarkets.

I don't meal plan. I prioritise buying organic fruit, veg, meat, eggs, milk, yoghurt, flour, nuts and store cupboard items like organic pasta, cous cous, olive oil and tinned beans. If I see any organic meat or fish on offer it goes straight in the freezer. The Packd range is really good for frozen organic fruit and veg.

Then I just use whatever we have to make dinner. It has been more of a faff, yes but we feel so much better for it.

I did buy non organic broccoli this week so if I can't get something that we really want I don't worry about it. In your situation I'd have bought the non organic peppers and given them a soak with water and a bit of bicarb.

It's still helpful for dh. Thank you!

@BowlCone - if you read the OP again it’s apparent (or implied) that she has … Rather a shame to have given up on them; I admittedly don’t eat meat, so have had no complaints in all the years I’ve relied on them. I gather Field & Flower is impressive for meat (don’t know if organic or not, but high quality).

Ocado only fills in the prepackaged gaps in my grocery shopping - everything else is bought from individual suppliers, mostly online, often found through the Farms to Feed us database I’ve linked above.

https://hodmedods.co.uk/

is where I buy all my wholefoods: beans, lentils etc, oats, wonderful flours produced in the UK. They offer some organic things, most are just carefully produced.

My coffee roasters offer one or two ‘organic’ beans, but I’m more swayed by taste preferences.

So while I generally go for the organic option if I trust the source and think it will make a difference, it’s not always conclusive.

Can you go to London on the train visit all of the specialist organic shops, I’ve even seen a supermarket that is package free, and buy loads of meat/chicken and freeze it

This. It's what I do.

I also do my supermarket shop at Ocado, so it's unusual not to be able to find organic veg, even out of season. I buy frozen organic fruit and veg from them. I have stopped buying chicken from them, though, after a couple of disasters. Sainsbury's also sell an organic range of fruit and veg.
I use an online organic delivery service, which is where I buy my chicken. I also buy from a local farm shop but can't guarantee to find organic there. If I can't find organic, I look for High Welfare meat.
I understand that there is evidence that organic is better for human health and there is loads of evidence that it is better for the environment and biodiversity.
But if you particularly want red peppers and there aren't any organic ones, buy what's available. That's what I do.

I've had a few bad experiences, with raw meat and wilted produce, so not over the moon. I really want to love them but feel a bit maligned, lol.

We use Ocado every week and the food is excellent, but a good deal falls out of stock before I go through the checkout, it's irritating.

Considering my OP, I do think it can get a bit tiresome trying to source things but we are still happy over all. I have got used to making good meals from what we can find, the kind of stuff you can get creative with, especially soups!

I do wish that more local supermarkets had better organic sections. Most here sell out fast, especially berries and meat, I can't see why they don't expand it.