NOW CLOSED Talk to Organic UK about about buying organic food and win a Neal's Yard 'pamper hamper' worth £100 plus 10 runner up prizes

[KatieBMumsnet]

As part of the new "Organic, Naturally Different Campaign" the folks at Organic UK would like to know Mumsnetters' opinions on buying organic food for your family. Here's what Organic UK says: "The campaign wants to encourage all of us to think again about the benefits of organic, and support organic producers. We all want good, natural food and that's exactly what organic is all about."

So if you buy organic food, please tell us what you buy and why? Does buying organic only matter to you for certain items and not others? Or is anything and everything you buy organic? Why is buying organic food important to you?

If you don't buy (or don't always buy) organic food, why is this? What prevents you from buying organic? Is there anything that could persuade you to purchase organic food?

Also, are you 100% sure on what organic produce is and how it is classified? Or are you not too sure?

Everyone who adds their comments to this list will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will receive a Neal's Yard 'pamper hamper' worth £100 and 10 runners up will each win one copy of the Discover Organic cookbook (worth £14.99).

Full T&Cs can be found here.

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

I buy some organic foods. We buy organic cows milk, mostly because I have no trust in the farming practices of dairy cows in the UK/Europe. As we only use a small amount of cows milk each week, the extra cost isn't an issue.

I also buy some fruit and veg organically. After buying cheap brocolli and it tasting like ear wax I will now only buy organic brocolli (one of my staple veg). I'm rather patchy about what other fruit and veg I buy organically sue to cost and quality. I've seen some fairly dodgey looking organic produce in shops (ie almost to the point of rotting on the shelf). I don't care how some thing was grown. If it's off before I even put it in my basket, I'm not buying it!

I also prefer to buy crazy Jacks dried fruit as the apricots do not contain sulphites (and taste a lot stronger, so you can use less) and their raisins do not contain palm oil which sadly the supermarket brand I was buying have started to use.

I'd probably buy more organic food, but cannot afford it. I do buy free range chicken and pig produce as a compromise though.

I avoid organic products as much as possible as I feel they are an overpriced load of nonsense, with no proven health or environmental benefits.

I am ruthless about minimizing food miles.

I always try to chose free range / ethically reared meat & eggs.

I would pay extra for free trade products but only of they weren't organic & were ethically produced.

I would consider rethinking my position on organic products if there were systematic reviews & meta analyzes of research data (non industry funded) demonstrating health benefits & reduced environmental impact. Also, if organic standards included UK standards for worker and animal welfare.

I buy organic milk as I believe the vitamin content is higher. I only add a few organic things to the shopping basket as it's so expensive, I get different organic things a try every month. Food is expensive as it is. I had to leave my job recently so I have even less to spend now, unfortunately I will have to buy the cheap stuff. We don't even have a local green grocers, otherwise I would buy locally grown produce. organically grown should just be standard practice IMO.

I buy organic fruit and vegetables when I can and I do find that they taste different. In particular, I prefer organic carrots, tomatoes and apples- in my experience they have a less chemical aftertaste to them and I will happily pay a little extra for those products.
The only thing that puts me off buying organic is price tbh!

I buy organic fruit and veg as I believe they are better for you, no pesticides and farmed in a way to preserve nutrients and flavour. As vegetarians this is major part of our diet and worth paying a bit more for. Do box order rather than supermarket.

Like to go for more natural cleaning products generally though still find I need something vicious on the toilets

I buy free range eggs & meat that is cruelty free but I don't see the point in organic vegetables & fruit. It is very expensive and can have lots of travelling involved which pollutes the atmosphere. I prefer to buy fruit & veg in season & sourced locally. Definately not from supermarkets

We don't tend to buy organic - price is the issue really, and I'm not totally convinced that it's worth the extra cost. (We buy fresh food and cook from scratch most of the time, just not organic.) If we could afford to I'd buy more organic produce, especially for my son to make sure he's getting the maximum nutrients possible.

I do buy organic - if its on offer. I bought some strawbs the other week and the difference in taste was massive - my kids couldnt get enough.

I don't tend to buy organic, but that is just because of price. I am going to be looking at better ways to manage my money in the next couple of weeks, and if this results in me having a bit more to spend, then I'll probably start buying the odd organic thing to see if there is much taste difference.

I don't buy organic normally, as it's more expensive and I haven't so far been convinced of the benefits. I would only start buying it regularly if the price difference disappeared or if I saw some really good evidence of it making a difference to health.

I usually buy organic milk, i buy organic cheese when I can afford it, and organic meat and eggs if I buy it from supermarket, although I normally get those free range from a very good local butcher. My understanding is that animal welfare standards are higher for organic produce, (which is a big concern for me) although I am slightly cynical about the standards of organic produce from abroad. I would also be reluctant to buy meat/produce from abroad as it seems nonsensical to be importing fresh food.

For health reasons I used to buy organic fruit/veg when the children were very young, but the price difference between non organic and organic was too high. I also feel that you can wash veg/fruit, so not quite so worried. I do buy organic milk for health reasons as well as animal welfare reasons.

To be honest, I assume that the standards between different organic producers vary hugely, although I use organic as a bare minimum standard. I'm fairly sure that the meat I buy from the butchers lived a better and healthier life than some animals that would produce oragnical meat.

Overall, I think its pretty damning of the food industry that food produced in what used to be considered a standard way has to be treated as 'special' and charged at a premium. On the other hand, why do we think that a chicken should be bought for less than one hours minimum wage (I don't at all blame those who buy them, but that's for a different rant!)

Finally, as an aside, it used to really bug me that seasonal produce goes up and down in price at my local greengrocers, whereas the shop I bought organic fruit/veg from charged a consistently high price!

I try to buy organic cows milk for one son but there isn't organic goats milk which my other son needs. I buy organic milk for animal welfare reasons.

I buy as much organic fruit and veg as a I can, and also organic porridge oats. The rest depends on my budget. The reason for this is that I think it tastes better.

My meat generally comes from the local butcher but if I buy from a supermarket, then I go for Freedom Food over organic as I often can't afford it - wish I could as I try to buy meat that is as high as possible regarding animal welfare. My local butcher uses local meat - not organic but free range and locally slaughtered.

Organic food is so pricey and well beyond most peoples budget and to be honest, it's the high welfare for animals that concerns me when making a decision over what to buy. Organic food is very much a middle-class thing which is such a shame as everyone should be able to buy food free from chemicals; sadly only the relatively wealthy have this luxury.

I have to assume that when it says organic, it is, so trust in my retailer is crucial.

As to buying more organic food then price is crucial. The cost of living keeps going up but my pay has remained static (with the increase in pension contributions it has actually gone down!).

If you don't buy (or don't always buy) organic food, why is this? What prevents you from buying organic? Is there anything that could persuade you to purchase organic food?

The main 'problem' with organic for me is the price. We use to get an Abel & Cole delivery but it just became too expensive. We've tightened our belts in loads of areas. I used to buy organic milk and bread too (Tesco's one), but I didn't really like the taste of either of them. (Organic milk always tastes a bit off to me, but I am not a milk lover). I still buy organic bananas, brocolli, carrots and potatoes because we eat a lot of them and they are not too much more expensive.

What could persuade me to buy organic? Any proper stats or research on actual benefits. At the moment, for me, it's a 'feeling' that organic is better for you, and must be better because more natural. But when you live in London and drink in pollution every day, I'm just not sure how much the organic benefit is really worth the cost.

Cheaper veg deliveries would be great too, perhaps local farms could be linked up with local areas. I think Abel & Cole does so many different things, and is quite complicated (all the different 'preferences' etc.) that you are paying for some of that. I'd love to support local produce and just get 'whatever' but all for a better/ equivalent price to the supermarket organic stuff.

Also, are you 100% sure on what organic produce is and how it is classified? Or are you not too sure?

Not 100% sure. I think it is no chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

So if you buy organic food, please tell us what you buy and why?
I buy organic chicken but not organic red meat because of an article I read years ago that i obviously believed although I can no longer remember the facts. It was about what the chickens and cows actually ate themselves.

Does buying organic only matter to you for certain items and not others?
I always buy organic milk and cheese although based on the above, I'm not sure why! When the children was younger I bought more organic because i wanted to give them only the best i suppose but now I think Ive got less ££ to spend and so I limit what i buy.

Or is anything and everything you buy organic? No

Why is buying organic food important to you? To give my children the best i can, as free from preservative, additives etc and as natural as possible.

If you don't buy (or don't always buy) organic food, why is this? What prevents you from buying organic? Is there anything that could persuade you to purchase organic food?
A better understanding of the difference in the two would probably sway me. If I knew for certain that non organic bread contained XYZ for example which could cause certain allergies and organic bread didn't contain XYZ and was proven to not cause those allergies then I'd probably cough up the £

Also, are you 100% sure on what organic produce is and how it is classified? Or are you not too sure?
Definitely not too sure.

We rarely (if ever) buy organic food, mainly because of the cost, it is usually more expensive, sometmes upto double, the price of the products we usually buy and we just dont have the budget to stretch to that.
On the the few occasions we do, it os because it is reduced/on offer and a better deal than the 'regualr' product.

Equally I'm not too sure as to what 'organic' means as term, agree with above posters about there being more clarity as to air miles/seasonal/without chemicals etc as given the choice between 'organic' and 'fiar trade' for example I'd be more confident in my understanding (and therefore more likely to buy) the fair trade product

So if you buy organic food, please tell us what you buy and why?

I buy organic eggs, bread, pasta, flour, chocolate and vegetables plus other stuff that I can't think off the top of my head. Mainly for environmental reasons: I used to volunteer at an organic market garden and I'll never forget the day when the crop of lucerne they were growing for fertiliser was completely covered in purple butterflies. Raising crops organically allows biodiversity to thrive. I saw our living field surrounded by sterile ones, it made a big impression. Also, I don't really feel like eating food that has been sprayed with pesticides that are just diluted nerve agents developed for military use. I realise that not all pesticides have that heritage but it's shocking that any of them do. A leaf that has been nibbled slightly shows that it's safe to eat, if nothing eats it, it's got poison on it.

"Does buying organic only matter to you for certain items and not others? Or is anything and everything you buy organic?"

I'd buy everything organic, but it's a matter of availability. It's easier to buy non-organically raised foods than organic ones.

"Why is buying organic food important to you?"

See above - the environment mostly, plus health reasons. Also it does taste better and is better quality, although perhaps the difference isn't noticeable enough for most people.

"If you don't buy (or don't always buy) organic food, why is this? What prevents you from buying organic? Is there anything that could persuade you to purchase organic food?"

Lack of availability is the reason why I can't buy everything organic. And sometimes cost unfortunately.

"Also, are you 100% sure on what organic produce is and how it is classified? Or are you not too sure?"

Pretty sure. Organically grown crops are ones that have been raised without artificial pesticides or fertilisers. I think there are a few pesticides that are allowed to be used without affecting the organic status. The Soil Association, plus some smaller organisations certify organic produce for sale in shops. It has to be certified to call itself organic.

i always buy organic spinach - this is because i am told it is one of the most heavily sprayed crops. for the same reason i buy organic coffee (and it tastes much better) though i'm told it's a bit of a myth about pesticide levels in instant coffee i still buy it as i've got hooked on the better flavour.

other than these i only buy organic stuff when it's on offer - i would buy more but it is just too expensive.

I try to buy organic fruit, veg, eggs and milk when I can but sometimes the price of products can be a problem if I'm short of cash. The price of organic meat is unfortunately usually too much for me. I definitely know what organic means.

I buy organic dairy because I think it is better for the cows' welfare, something to do with the amount of antibiotics dairy cows are pumped full of to maximise their non organic output. I do think organic fruit and veg tastes better but I can't afford to buy it as part of my regular grocery shop. I buy meat from the butcher as locally sourced produce and animal welfare is more important to me than organic since my budget forces me to choose.

I buy milk, fruit, veg and some meat and fish although organic meat is very expensive so I don't buy it often. I won't but meat if it is not organic. I don't want random hormones, chemicals in my food and I want the animals to be fed and looked after properly. I also grow lots of veg - can't get more organic than that!

I buy organic because it is better for wildlife - and I know that for professional reasons. I prefer local, certainly British and would generally only buy imported organic if he alternatives are similarly imported - though I know that produce with many food miles can have a much lower carbon footprint and lower water useage than greenhouse-grown UK or Dutch crops.

If there are taste or health benefits that's just a bonus. I think there may be some of the former, few of the latter, though the quantity of pesticide on some fruit is horrid and I recall being astounded in th summer of, I think 1995, when the govt told us to peel all carrots s drought had left them with too high a concentration. I'm sure safe limits are way below any level that might actually cause harm though.

We're vegetarian and buy very little dairy, no milk, so I'm buying veg mostly and some cereals, flour etc. We get a veg box delivered weekly from a farm nearby.

Buying elsewhere price is an issue but only if massively more expensive, which some things are.

The classifications seem designed to confuse. I know everything for sale here meets common EU standards but some, such as soil association, are higher and I trust them in particular more.

I very rarely buy organic food - only get it if it happens to be on offer and is cheaper than the 'normal' stuff that I would buy. I'm not 100% convinced that it is any better than other food, I think it could be a bit of a hyped up thing. I'll admit that I've never tried to educate myself on this though so I could just be making excuses and trying to fool myself into thinking that value stuff is just as good as anything else. :)

So if you buy organic food, please tell us what you buy and why? Does buying organic only matter to you for certain items and not others? Or is anything and everything you buy organic? Why is buying organic food important to you?

We buy organic whenever possible. Usually our shopping list will consist of organic cheeses, organic dairy, organic vegetables. I only buy organic meat because I don't want DD or DH to ingest too many chemicals. I appreciate that we are lucky to be able to buy between 40-50% of our food shopping organically. We tend to buy from supermarkets, Waitrose and Sainsbury's always have a good selection.

Organic food is more important to me than organic clothing or organic toiletries. I think it's possible to find environmentally-friendly non-organic options for these.

Also, are you 100% sure on what organic produce is and how it is classified? Or are you not too sure?

Mostly sure? I know that there are lots of hoops that have to be jumped through in order to register as organic. Having spoken to a couple of local producers, we know that they are using mostly organic methods but have found the registration process and cost prohibitive, so they are unable to advertise their organic produce as organic.

I used to only really buy organic meats (also outdoor reared & free range). That was purely for animal welfare reasons.
Having exclusively breastfed my son for 6 months to ensure that I was giving him the best possible start, I then really considered what would be the best approach to start feeding him solids... After doing a bit of research I have decided to go organic. I believe the affects of chemical traces are not fully understood yet and that babies/ small children will probably be more sensitive to any possible adverse affects.
I have decided to switch all my fresh food to organic (80 % of out diet is fresh food) .. I'm not buying organic processed food, just because I believe through the processing of food these chemical levels are reduced, also organic cereals aren't fortified with essential vitamins and minerals..
My husband and I have completely reviewed our diets as we believe that even no matter what we feed our son now, he inevitably will end up eating what we eat, so we need to make sure that's a healthy balanced diet...

I buy organic where I can. I have a regular veg and fruit box delivered and also occasionally order their meat box. As the meat is more expensive we try to eat meat every other day or stretch it out with beans/pulses. I struggle to find organic beans and pulses though!
I find the taste is better, the meat is better quality. I do also buy organic from the supermarket but am frequently disappointed as the meat / veg doesn't taste as good as from my box supplier, so I don't always buy organic when topping up from the supermarket. However I do try and buy free range at least. I am happy with buying any lamb (British is best!) as I believe lamb is pretty much free range anyway...
I don't often buy organic bacon as it is soooo expensive, but we don't eat bacon that regularly. An occasional weekend bacon butty treat or sometimes added to a bolognese sauce if I don't have enough mince.
I also have an allotment, which I believe is all organic! (until someone points out to me it's not because of a, b, c I shall continue with this belief!)