About Organic Produce

Organic or biodynamic produce is grown without chemical fertilisers or artificial pesticides.  

The Organic Federation of Australia has lots more information about organic produce and labels of certification. Check their website, www.ofa.org.au which is full of great information.

At your supermarket

Until recently, if you wanted organic, you had to go to a health food shop. Now many supermarkets are making space for organic fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, milk, yoghurt, cream, cheeses, honey, eggs and chickens, as well as processed cere­als, pasta, pasta sauces, soups, vinegar, breads, olive oil, sugar, tahini and honey spreads. Some supermarkets may even stock organic corn chips and chocolate. 

Most organic foods cost more, but in shopping for this story, organic avocados, capsicums and potatoes were cheaper than their conventionally grown cousins. 

Prices will inevitably fall as organic foods gain market share in mainstream supermarkets. A recent study compared apples grown conventionally and those grown organically and reported a greater yield (as well as better flavour) from the organic crop. If this is repeated for other crops and with farmers not having to fork out for expensive pesticide sprays, we may see prices for organic products failing in the that come with large monoculture crops where everything is sprayed regularly with future.
However, some organic foods will always cost more because they are grown on smaller farms without the economies of scale.

Better flavour and nutrition 

What do you get for your money with organic foods? For a start, you may often get a better-tasting product. Flavour is subjective. and differences may depend on freshness, the variety of an~ product grown as well the soil it is grown in, but blind taste tests back claims that many organic foods do taste better, especially fresh foods such as apples, strawberries and tomatoes. Free­range eggs and chickens are also rated as having better flavour than you get with cooped-up chooks.

Whether organic produce is more nutritious is still being debated and probably depends on which nutrients you examine. Most tests do not show higher levels of vitamins in organic foods, but their mineral content may be greater, especially if they are grown with lots of organic fertiliser.

Until recently there have been no studies of anti-oxidant levels in organically-grown products, but a new study has shown high­er levels of an important anti-oxidant called lycopene in organically-grown tomatoes, compared with hydroponic ones. Until more results are published, we can't say if this applies to other products, but higher levels of anti-oxidants could turn out to be the real nutritional advantage of organic foods.

Environmental benefits 

There's little doubt about the environmental advantages of most organic produce. Pesticides may be useful for conventional farmers, but they cause damage to birds and other creatures, and chemical fertilisers cause harmful nutrient build-up in waterways.

There are also potential problems with some GM crops alter­ing soil bacteria as well as reducing populations of some benefi­cial insects. Organic growing avoids these problems, although farmers using organic fertilisers also need to ensure they don't contribute to excess nutrient loads in rivers.

Any disadvantages?

Most Australians need to eat more fruit and vegies. So, if the higher prices of organically grown produce results in some peo­ple restricting their consumption, that would be a down side. However vegetables are grown, freshness is important. Wilted vegies lose their vitamins, so it's important to shop where the turnover is high to ensure freshness. Wilted produce - including organic vegetables- is not a good buy. If your choice is between conventional produce that is fresh, and old organic stuff, I'd go for the regular produce every time. Fortunately, most fresh produce sold in Australia has very low levels of pesticide residues.

Some opponents of organic produce claim foods could contain bacteria if raw animal manures were applied as a fertiliser. Most organic farmers know this and use well-rotted compost. 

Conclusion

The range of organic foods will almost certainly increase in the future. Overall, that's a good thing ,with small benefits for taste and nutrition and big potential advantages for the long-term health of the soil and our capacity to produce food sustainability. Organic meats from grazing animals not given growth hormones, and free range chickens, also have benefits for the animals.