When I'm doing the shopping I don't tend to go for Organic produce, mainly because there isn't much of a selection in the supermarket that I use for my online shop, plus it's more expensive than the regular foods. When I'm shopping for my family of five I do usually have to take the price into consideration, and whilst I don't choose the very cheapest products, I don't choose the most expensive either.
If I was buying ingredients for something a bit more special than an everyday meal I may go to the local farm shop, if time allowed, and take a look at their organic produce.
After looking at these figures from the Organic Trade Board, it is worrying to see that 100% of all soft citrus fruits & 98% of oranges tested contained pesticide residue, which is a good enough reason to switch to organic.
I've been challenged to come up with a dinner party menu for eight people and compare the costs of the meal when non organic ingredients were used vs organic ingredients. My menu is as follows :
Starter
baked camembert with caramelised red onion and crusty bread
Main
roast chicken with sage & apple stuffing
seasoned carrots & courgettes
hasselback potatoes
Dessert
white chocolate mousse pots
Nibbles
Selection of flavoured roasted almonds
The cost of the meal came in as follows (per serving) :
Starter
Non organic £0.94
Organic (organic red onions & organic bread) £1.18
Main
Non organic £1.44
Organic (organic chicken, carrots, potatoes, courgettes) £2.36
Dessert
Non organic £0.69
Organic (organic eggs, chocolate, cream) £1.43
Nibbles
Non organic £0.25
Organic (organic almonds) £0.42
Total (per serving)
Non organic £3.32
Organic £5.39
A difference of £2 per head isn't too bad for a dinner party but it would certainly put the cost of our weekly shop up by quite a bit if I was to switch the bulk of my groceries to organic.
This post has been commissioned by the Organic Trade Board.
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