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

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?

I always used to buy organic baby food. Lately I am not really an organic shopper. I like my chicken to be free range, corn-fed and possibly organic.

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?

Organic is just too expensive. I can see the benefits, as I grew up on a farm in the 1970s where everything was homemade organic, and fantastic quality and later experienced large scale poultry farming. But organic products are just not value for money. I only ever really buy them in waitrose when they are reduced. make it more affordable, please.

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

I am not too sure. I trust the Soil Association, but you just never know.

I used to have an organic veg and fruit box delivered but first of all that was before food got so expensive and I could still afford it, also I found that there were things in there that we didn't use and I hate throwing food away. I also hate getting my hands dirty (sorry, very precious I know, but I just do) so hated washing potatoes, carrots that were really muddy sometimes.

I now rarely buy anything organic as it is too expensive. I do try and buy british food as much as possible. I am not averse to buying organic food and if I could afford it I would buy it as I prefer to eat food that hasn't been treated in all sorts of ways.

Generally I buy whatever food is organic which remains broadly similar in price to non-organic, which I find is quite a wide range nowadays. The price is not always ridiculously prohibitive. Mainly fruit and veg, as my son eats a lot of these. I only ever buy organic milk if it is available, as we drink quite vast amounts. Pasta, etc. We do buy organic. I am aware of the soil association meanings, and think I know what enables companies to get this Mark, however am not too sure about other categories.

Sorry- I forgot that I rarely buy organic meat as the price is ridiculous- I mainly eat a fish and veg diet though.

I buy organic meat and milk. With fruit and veg though I vary - but always organic carrots to avoid the pesticide residue. I don't buy organic fish as that seems to be only possible if it is a farmed product, which I don't like. I have my own hens :)

I'm gradually moving over to organic toiletries and cosmetics as I use up my old stuff.

I have cancer, so am attempting to avoid pesticides and chemicals.

I don't buy organic food. To be honest I do't even tend to look in the organic section of supermarkets. I'm probably outdated but still tend to think of organic as expensive. If it is in the reduced section I am happy to buy it. Similarly if something happens to be organic for instance if all Heinz beans were organic I would buy then anyway as long as there wasn't a price hike. I'm not explaining that well, for instance I bought Mr Kipling cakes before and I still buy them now they use free range eggs. The fact they have changed their standards is good, but didn't stop me buying them before if you see what I mean.

I work in science and tend to be quite ok with the science behind "non" organic food and commercial farming practises. I am annoyed at the general opinion that organic is good and non organic is bad. Just because it is organic it doesn't mean it is high standards of welfare, or even that it is pesticide/chemical fertiliser free, it's just the chemicals they have used have been deemed ok by the organic society.

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?

*I am sold on the benefits of organic, not least from an environmental point of view, because of the fact that organic farming is much gentler on the earth and emphasizes soil structure rather than nutrients as a factor in growth.

Because of this, I buy a weekly veg box and I insist on only ever having organic milk from an animal welfare point of view as they usually have lower yields and fewer of the problems associated with overly high yields (lameness, constant udder infection etc...)

I used to also buy an organic meat box and a fruit box but the fruit box was a little uninspiring and the meat scheme I used did not adapt the format of its meat to the season so I stopped it over the summer one year and just got out of the habit. I now buy conservation grade meat from a local butcher, or whatever's reduced in Waitrose (Waitrose does very good reductions). Frankly we cannot afford organic meat (eg 16-20 quid for a chicken) but I usually draw the line at intensively reared stuff unless we are feeding hordes. When I see organic chickens reduced in Waitrose (often 15-16 pounds down to 5) I snap them up and put them in the freezer, which is bad for Waitrose but good for the chickens and for us.

Our fruit now comes from Waitrose when I go there and tbh most of the time is not organic- for bananas I am more interested in buying fair trade than organic, although both would be a bonus of course! Most often I buy whatever is on offer and hope that the JL partnership ethics trickle down to the producers. Morrisons and coop are also fair to their producers I believe. Milk we buy from our neighbour who has a new small organic herd, so we are sure they get all the proceeds. They will also be producing butter and cream shortly, looking forward to that!*

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

In the UK I'm fairly sure about what organic standard means as it's tightly regulated. I think the US is a bit more lawless on what counts as organic.

I feel that organic food is important especially for my 3 children, but unfortunately I find it very expensive. I buy organic fruit and vegetables whenever possible and when funds allow, I cannot justify the expense of organic meat though although i would prefer to buy it if it cost less.

I buy and always have bought organic shampoo for my kids. They both have sensitive skin and the lavender shampoo is kind to their scalps as well as making their hair shiny and manageable. I also try to buy organic milk whenever I can although at the moment in the current economic climate it is tricky to afford organic even if you are dedicated to using organic goods. If the big supermarkets could come up with a way of reducing the cost of organic food, drink and toileteries I sure many more people would buy them.

The only reason I do not shop fully organic is cost. Whenever possible through offers or substitutions I do try to get all I can.

Am interested in organic through the kinder to the earth/animals point of view especially.

I do think we should have sustainable farming, but i don't buy organic.

I think we need intensive agriculture, that is safe, affordable, science-based and takes account of the environment. I don't think the organic standard does this job. I think it's anti GM stance is a step in the wrong direction.

Your statement at the beginning that we all want good, natural food and that is what organic means is patronising and meaningless.

Unless we want to subsist on nettles, rabbit and brambles then we have to accept that what we eat is not 'natural' but farmed. And much of it is processed - wheat into bread, milk into cheese.

I think the attempt to divide foods into "good" and "bad" on the basis of spurious marketing twaddle like natural, chemical-free, homeopathic, and unprocessed is just not helpful.

I think what most people (around the world) want is safe, affordable food that doesn't destroy the environment. I don't think this should be a niche product but the norm for the food supply.

I buy organic milk because I think it tastes much better and we use a lot of milk, and we get an organic veg/fruit box most weeks from riverford. I try to buy organic meat, and because it's so much more expensive we probably only have it a couple of times a week. I do, however, balance organic with where things have been produced, so if there's a free range option produced locally I will choose that over an organic option which has come from a long way away.

We also buy at local farmers markets, and buying organic matters less to me there as I like to support local producers and small businesses.

Organic is expensive but I try to save money elsewhere and we don't buy a lot of 'junk' food, make most meals from scratch, and I do a fair amount of baking so the children don't have packaged biscuits and snacks - all of which saves some money. I am happy to spend a bit more on the food we eat and save elsewhere as I think my chilldrens generation is eating more ready made, mass produced food than ever before, and we have yet to see the full impact of this and the myriad chemicals that we pump our bodies full of in the food we eat.

I don't necessarily aim to buy organic - the price puts me off. I think people retailers are cashing in on the "its organic it must be better" thought process.

I always buy free range (whether organic or not) animal products and cruelty free toiletries/hosehold products as i think this is more important.

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?

I used to buy a lot of organic food for both environmental and health reasons. I now buy a lot less due to finances however I only ever buy organic milk, I do hate the dairy industry anyway and try to use as little milk as possible, but organic farming has slightly higher standards of welfare.

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 only thing that stops me buying organic is money - I shop for the cheapest possible.

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

Yes, I am aware of the regulations that organic farmers have to adhere too in the production of food.

I don't buy organic because I don't really believe that it is healthier, and I've read about blind tests (as well as my own experiences) that say that it isn't actually tastier.

I do believe that it might be better for the environment overall, but I'm selfish/lazy enough that that isn't a good enough reason for me to pay the extra money.

I try to buy local produce and we have our own hens so I know they are organic!
I find organic products in the supermarket expensive and therefore we grow a lot of our own fruit and veg as it tastes much nicer and is definitely organic too.
I understand the organic labelling

We grow a lot of our own veg so therefore eat organic.

But we simply can not afford to buy organic fruit/veg in supermarket.

Tis too expensive.

But we do get some meat and all eggs from village farm shop.

sigh so I guess we are doing what we can in this economic climate.

Christ I don't know. I guess that if we win the lottery tonight, then I will know exactly where all our meat/eggs/fruit/veg/dairy comes from because we will own the bloody farm.

In an ideal world, I would prefer organic everything...we tried organic fruit & veg boxes for a while recently but the cost didn't seem worth it for the small amount of veg and the fruit often seemed poorer quality so we have stopped for the time being. I do think the taste is better and we do grow some of our own organic veg (again quality not always so good as can get eaten by garden pests!). I love the fact that i don't have to worry about peeling organic potatoes and carrots - just give them a quick wash and as baby starts weaning, I would prefer to puree organic veg so i don't have to worry about pesticides. Wouldn't it be great if there was a bigger supply push for organic (i.e. so non-organic doesn't really become a choice but all stock is organic) - like how some supermarkets only sell fairtrade bananas (which is fab). Then hopefully costs would come down slightly too if there were more people buying it.

Just wanted to add that I had the best tasting carrots today that we have eaten for a long time and Yes, they were organic

They tasted delicious and even DH commented on them before knowing that they were organic!

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?

I used to buy nearly all organic food and lots of eco cleaning products & cosmetics (apart from when eating out or snacking on the go... I'm not too organised about taking food with me). DH is not so bothered so I don't insist on everything but here are the things I prioritise:

ANYTHING that DS (6 months) is likely to eat (because pesticide residue allowances are for adults not babies)
Dairy, meat
Salad leaves, lettuce spinach (as they have a large surface area)
Broccoli (because I read non organic is sprayed with something horrible to stop it flowering)
Grapes (large surface area and you eat the skin)
carrots (because they taste better)
apples (because waxed apples taste of soap)
Cucumbers (taste way better)

And things I don't buy organic are pasta, rice, lentils, beans, nuts, spices, mostly because we buy these in bulk and it would be very expensive to buy them in the small packets I normally find organic pasta & rice in. Also I don't worry very much about stuff that gets peeled, or that we only eat the inside of, such as melon, pinapple, mango, butternut squash.

However when I do buy organic it is as much out of respect for the environment and the land as for my family's health. And higher animal welfare standards matter, biodiversity, insect life etc..

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?

If it is local and responsibly packaged I am more likely to buy it

sometimes organic food has more air miles so locally produced if available is more environmentally sound and fresher.

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

The only classification I really understand is the soil association, as I used to be a member/ supporter

So if you buy organic food, please tell us what you buy and why
I have an organic veg box delivered from Riverford, (excellent quality, I recommend them) every week throughout the winter months and grow my own organic vegetables on the allotment.

Does buying organic only matter to you for certain items and not others?
I try to buy all organic products but I don't live in an area where this is easy. When I visit and stay in a town that prides itself on having lots of eco-concious shops I tend to be all organic. Obviously the state of my finances affects my buying power.

Or is anything and everything you buy organic?
As above, That's my aim and I try to buy most things with organic quality and environmental impact in mind.

Why is buying organic food important to you?
Health reasons, I think lots of food is very poor quality
I also like less chemicals in shampoos etc as I have psoriasis and find this helps

If you don't buy (or don't always buy) organic food, why is this?
Pure and simple, money, costs, finances

What prevents you from buying organic?
As above

Is there anything that could persuade you to purchase organic food?
Already do, though loer prices would help

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

I don't buy any specifically organic produce. My family is on a tight budget for shopping so unfortunately I just don't consider organic as I know it is more expensive. On the rare occasions I have tasted organic produce I find it does taste better though. If our budget was say 30% higher than it is I would buy organic.

I am also concerned about wastage. I like to minimise wastage and I particularly dislike fruit and veg wastage (meat can be frozen). I believe organic food goes off quicker so this would put me off. I would have to be much better off financially not to bother about food waste.

My favourite fruit and veg is from Marks and Spencer though. Even when it is not organic it just looks and tastes much better than other supermarkets. There are less bad bits or squashed bits in the packs as maybe it is packaged and handled better. I've never tried Able and Cole or anyone but I think M&S are the cream of the crop. If I had the money I would probably shop there for all foods.

I try to buy organic, free range meat if possible but I don't usually buy the fruit and veg anymore. I was getting a veg box but the quality was dire so have gone back to the supermarket. I will only buy free range and organic eggs because I feel that the lives of the chickens is important. I am aware of the regulations surrounding organic produce. I would buy organic more often if I could afford it.

I always buy organic dairy and have done so for years. I read somewhere that animals that contribute to non-organic dairy produce are given hormones to extend the milking period... though I definitely think the taste of organic dairy products is far superior too. I buy organic meat as a preference but it's not always available. I wouldn't go without. if faced with organic or nothing but woud never buy anything short of free range meat.

I could be persuaded to shop completely organically if supermarkets offered a bigger choice and brought costs down. To be honest, I'm baffled as to why there's such a difference in price for more basic store cupboard fare...

I definitely understand the labelling - I think I'm right to be naturally suspicious of places like Tesco!

I get an organic fruit and veg box from Riverford sometimes. I think the produce is excellent quality, I like the variety and being 'forced' to try new recipes regularly. And actually for the volumes and quality I think the price is pretty hard to beat for organic or in some cases non-organic (only for a mixed veg box, not singly bought items). Taste wise....meh, I don't notice a difference particularly.

I actively avoid the organic in the supermarkets as the selection is small, the produce looks a bit grotty like its been hanging around a while (even Waitrose) and you get less product for your money in general.

I don't tend to buy organic anything else unless its a product I want - the organic label isn't really a draw for me. (Although...saying that I'm not too keen on meat products pumped with salt and hormones etc but the price of organic for these is just too much at the moment. If it was a bit more expensive I'd switch, but its vastly more expensive)

I'm not 100% convinced by organic in general. I haven't done too much research on it though. But I don't think GM crops etc are the work of the devil. And organic fruit and veg is treated with 'chemicals' in so far as anything is a chemical - crops may be treated with copper sulphate and other heavy metal compounds to ask as pesticides/fungicides. Its still not like farming back in the good old days really - because we're all after such a lot more bulk production.

I don't know the full story about organic though and am open to being educated about the benefits of organic over non-organic. I feel there's quite a lot of non-scientific, biased information out there which makes it difficult to make an informed choice. Lower prices and better quality of veg in supermarkets would be helpful.

I think I partially understand the classification of organic - something about the fields having to have been free of non-organic chemical treatment crops for several years - and having to have a certain distance between non-organic/organic fields? For cattle its something like not fed on non-organic feed.