Is it worth going organic?

[Kellamity]

And if so where do you source your food? Supermarket? Local shops? Online? Is everything organic, milk, veg, meat?

I deliberately AVOID organic. Too bloody expensive. I'm pretty sure the shops would not be allowed to sell us non organic food if it was 'bad' so I am more than happy to buy the cheaper non organic veg etc.

I order online from Riverford farms. Their boxes are fantastic, my kids look forward to the farmer delivering our boxes and eat a much more varied diet now. I get a fortnightly delivery consisting of a large meat box, seasons veg box, fruit box and salad box along with whole milk. Total cost about £100 but easily feeds our family of four for the two weeks, just small top up shops for cheese, yoghurt etc

I have been looking at Abel and Cole, they are similar to Riverford I think. Will have a look at Riverford too!

I used to try and buy more organic when the dc were younger and thoroughly recommend the riverford boxes though they can get rather tedious in winter when the fruit and veg are seasonally limited, still always buy organic carrots, taste so much better though have noticed since the recession that organic food in supermarkets has dramatically decreased in choice.
Never buy organic meat unless it is free range as well as organic meat does not = the best welfare for the animal.
Organic milk is meant to be much healthier with less anti biotics etc rountinely used on the herd.
If i could afford it i would buy more organic food

I do buy organic, free range chicken (the only meat we eat), eggs, milk and grapes (which are particularly affected by pesticide usage)

Everything else is regular unless v similar in price. A reasonably local farm to here sells the animal products and I like to support them - no difference in price to Tesco organic range, and I get to see the animals running about :)

I tried an organice box for several weeks one autumn and was very disappointed. The choice was very limited, the veg went off quickly and the quality wasn't that great. I also did some blind taste tests on OH and DD and they couldn't taste the difference.

I now buy my veg from a local farm shop, some of which is home grown. The veg is fresher, lasts longer and tastes better. My carbon footprint is much lower as well. I can choose what I want and shop when I want. It would take a lot to convince me to try an organic box delivery again.

I always buy free range meat. We just eat it less frequently.

it's fine, as long as you understand that it's a marketing term and is extremely ambiguous.

I always only buy free-range pork, chicken, eggs etc. Beef and milk i will buy as long as its British.

When it comes to veg i have no particular preference for organic, although have recently bought the organic veg boxes from both Abel & Cole and Ocado. i was fairly impressed with both as the veg lasted a lot longer than normal, but they were more expensive.

You can buy direct off the farm, cutting out the middleman, see the farming techniques. See whether animals are finished with nuts/mix/soya or finished outdoors. Go for "pedigree" and it will be "less intensive" and just as good as organic.

Organic isnt necessarly better, I have seen some poorly kept cattle under the organic scheme and there is a lot of ignornace over the word. The best scheme is for the chickens.

We used to breed and sell direct traditonally reared cattle, low ratio, extremely high standard, hardly any intervention with meds (meds too expensive), fantastic health programme. Our pork was pedigree gloucester old spot which was truely outdoor reared (not barn), lambs out in fields but are generally finished indoors. Bronze turkeys and geese. Not organic.

Sadly due to farming costs and little local backing we have now packed the whole thing up. There are plenty of farmers selling direct, some will deliver to your house FOC. I would invest in a big freezer so that way you can get a better deal when buying meat.