Does organic food taste much nicer than "normal" food?

[jofeb04]

I finally think I can afford organic food, thinking that it is going to be healthier for my children and myself.

But, we can't afford to buy everything organic food. TBH, we normally bought frozen veg rather then fresh.

So, if there is 3 food types that you would buy organic, what would it be?

Thanks

[jofeb04]

Thaks for that info Franny, I looked at organic veg in the local supermarket, and it just didn't "seem' right iykwim

[KathyMCMLXXII]

And the organic stuff in the supermarket is wrapped to within an inch of its life to make sure people don't pretend it's non-organic when they get to the till.

[GreatGooglyMooglyEgg]

Milk
Eggs
Meat/ Chicken

[handlemecarefully]

Have you got a patch of garden where you could grow your own? (not being facetious - just that it's a very cheap way to have a range of organic vegetables)

[Furball]

We have most things organic. You can deffo tell the difference with carrots and potatoes, they're very tasty. Meat I don't get organic specifically, but I go to a reputable butcher and a small free range chicken is about £8, over a special offer cheapo supermarket version of £2.99 or whatever. The taste and texture are so different to the cheapo one and because it was expensive I tend to waste less we get 2 days meals and 2 days sandwiches so when you break down the cost then, it seems quite a bargain!

I would buy potatoes/root veg, milk and good quality meat as my choice.

[LazyLine]

For me, the biggest taste difference in all organic food is chicken and pork. I find them tasteless normally and when I switched over to organic meat a couple of years ago was impressed to see that these meats could have a flavour.

My treat these days is a nice packet of organic bacon as the taste difference I think is phenomenal. It's expensive though so it gets bought less often.

[LazyLine]

Meant to say organic/free range chicken and pork.

[FrannyandZooey]

Jofeb, I don't know what they do to it, but it does not taste anywhere like as good as the stuff you have to scrape the mud off

I guess part of it is food miles, the local stuff has been in the ground a day or two before, whereas the supermarket stuff was probably grown hydroponically and is 3 months old

[LazyLine]

Frozen sweetcorn also tastes much better organic. Unless you can afford M&S standard, which also tastes better. But at that price, you might as well buy organic!

[bozza]

What does hydroponic mean? hydro = water then I get stuck.

I have just had a leaflet delivered about riverswale box schemes. Apparently they are a sister farm to riverford but based in North Yorkshire (obviously given the name) and we are in West Yorks. I am considering it but can't decide what size box to get. It will totally change my shopping practices though bcause currently I spend between £50 and £60/week and get it all delivered. But if I take out the fruit/veg this will put me under the £50 cap where I can get free delivery. DH thinks I am just making more work for myself. But I have been wondering about getting an Asda shop once a fortnight to put me over the £50 for things like cereal, toilet rolls etc. But then I would need to get a milk man because I couldn't buy milk just once a fortnight. I have been considering this also anyway.

But in answer to the op. My first thing to buy would be organic chicken. I had been buying cheapo chicken but decided I couldn't live with my conscience so started buying Asda free range chicken - more for animal welfare reasons than our own health. But the other day Asda omitted to deliver our meat so I went to the local farm shop and bought a chicken and it was much tastier than even the Asda free range one.

[LedodgyCheapEasterEggsAreASin]

Carrots, Organci carrots taste far better.

[LedodgyCheapEasterEggsAreASin]

*Organic

[bozza]

Ah but ledodgy my 2yo is growing us some carrots so we are sorted.

[LedodgyCheapEasterEggsAreASin]

I'll have a bunch of those please Bozza when we move to D D.

[Earthymama]

'POTATOEY potatoes

CARROTY carrots'
You summed it up perfectly F&Z!
Can I add Parsnips too?
My aged mum says these veg from Riverford taste like the produce she ate when a child, all homegrown and chemical free

[bozza]

Hmm ledodgy I think we are making massive assumptions in thinking they will actually grow when DD has lovingly tended them and soaked them in huge quantites of water. But if they do, they will be organic.

[KathyMCMLXXII]

Bozza, do you have freezer space to freeze milk? I do that now as I only tend to get a Sains delivery once every two or three weeks.

Hydroponic is where instead of growing stuff in soil they grow it in big vats of water with necessary nutrients added. People do it a lot when growing cannabis secretly in loft spaces and cavity walls - not sure if it makes much difference to the finished product in that case

The box scheme we use atm is based in Tadcaster so they may do W Yorks - I like them because they grow most of it on their own farm so it all comes very fresh and muddy in generous quantities. Farmaround North is also good (with added benefit of newsletter from the mad woman who runs it).

[bozza]

I do have freezer space but am concerned whether DH (he does breakfasts Tues - Thurs when I am working) can be relied on to keep on top of the supply. We don't actually use a lot of milk - 6-7 pints a week is all, so don't need tons of space. kathy you have advised me on this before but I have been dithering since then.

[KathyMCMLXXII]

Yes it does take a certain amount of organisation to get the milk out of the freezer in time - should be so simple but somehow it's not.

Bozza you might as well dither at this time of year as March is the very worst time of year to have an organic box. There will be more good stuff around in a month or two.

[bozza]

Can I be nosy while I dither? Which box do you go for, and for how many? Do you top up from other sources? How do you decide what to cook?

[hannahsaunt]

You get more meat for your money with organic chicken, I have found. Hardly any shrinkage and goes much further weight for weight than non organic as well as tasting nicer (imo). In our house a 1.5kg organic chicken will do:

2 adult and 2 children roast dinners

2 further 2 adult & 2 children meals (curry, pasta etc) and sometimes enough for pack lunch one day so a lot for your £7 approx that you pay in Sainsbury's.

[KathyMCMLXXII]

Yes please be nosy, I love talking about organic boxes!

We only get veg because dh is very fussy about his fruit and he's the fruit eater in this family.

We started off with the standard veg box from Farmaround North but we found that we were needing to top up with carrots and onions and every week but always had loads of potatoes left over. Organic Pantry costs a few pounds more but for that you get one more vegetable and everything in more generous quantities, and the quantities are about right for us.
We top up with supermarket/market/greengrocer mushrooms and peppers most weeks and the occasional aubergine, because we eat a lot of stir fries and the organic mushrooms don't tend to keep well.
We do eat a lot of veg though - we cook every day.
The biggest advantage of Farmaround over Organic Pantry was that they are better at posting the box contents on the web which makes advance planning easier. What I've learnt so far is that you have to use up the veg first that goes off quicker, so if we get lettuce we will have a main course salad that night, whereas celeriac or squash can sit in the fridge for weeks. When the levels of celeriac get excessive (I had reached 5 last week ) I make soup, which I freeze if we don't want soup that day!
I use the web a lot to work out what to do with weird stuff though generally it's quite simple - if it's green and leafy you can saute it with garlic and chilli, if it's root you make soup.

[bozza]

So do you find you are eating a lot more soup? I quite like the look of the river swale one. I think the planning aspect would definitely swing it for me. I am a bit of a menu planner. Also I only cook 3-4x a week but double quantities. But I think this would work with a veg box. I think things normally get sent in generous quantities.

[KathyMCMLXXII]

Not really - we often used to have it for Saturday lunch out of a tin only now it's more likely to be homemade.

RiverSwale looks brilliant - let me know how it goes if you go with that one....
You definitely want a well-organised one if you are a menu-planning type.