Why I love Organic

My love for all things Organic is far from being a recent passion, a trend or a fad. In fact, I can see myself now, it’s 1998 and I’m in my final year at Reading University, studying for a degree in Food Marketing Economics.  I’m sat at my desk, behind an enormous murky cream coloured PC (there were no laptops back then!) beavering away on my dissertation. Wondering if I could get another paragraph done before heading out with my housemates to the Student’s Union.

I’d chosen to research and write about the Organic Food and Drink Market. None of my friends knew what ‘organic’ food was. Neither did my tutor. So, why did I find it interesting enough to write a 10,000-word dissertation on?

The answer lies in my upbringing. Living in rural Worcestershire, my childhood was one spent outdoors and close to nature. Up at the crack of dawn to see to my horses and walking in the nature reserve next to our home, I saw nature first hand and appreciated it from a young age.

My Mum, a Chemistry graduate, avid reader of New Scientist and low-key environmentalist, was both well informed and a bit of a worrier. It turns out she was right to worry.  I joke to friends that she would have been bang on trend now. But, back in the 1980s and 90s when I was growing up, eyebrows were certainly raised by neighbours and friends. Her concerns about climate and the environment meant she was seen as a bit of a crank, as was the whole environmental and Organic movement in those days. 

Back then, terms that have become so familiar - soil health, climate change and global warming - were just not a thing. This was a time when farmers were being driven to produce more as cheaply as possible. EU subsidies rewarded scale and efficiency. So hedges were removed, tractors got ever bigger, and powerful agro-chemical suppliers freely pushed synthetic fertilisers and pesticides. These were applied to the land to kill off weeds and insects and boost growth, but over time farmers became trapped in a never-ending cycle. These chemicals degraded the soil, causing a cascade of problems necessitating the use of even more man-made inputs. 

Both then, and now, the idea of producing food organically just made sense to me. It’s not a new concept after all. Before the Second World War, when farmers and gardeners alike were encouraged to “dig for victory”, this was the norm. But sadly, norms have changed and our food production relies heavily on the widespread use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

The environmental impacts of this are well researched. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), synthetic nitrogen fertilisers have increased by 800% since the 1960s. Research shows that in most intensive agricultural systems, over 50% and up to 75% of nitrogen applied is not used by plants. Instead it leaches into the soil to be washed into rivers, lakes and oceans. It causes algae to grow unnaturally fast, using up all available oxygen in the water and suffocating other species. There is evidence that synthetic fertilisers are responsible for 1 out of every 40 tonnes of greenhouse gases (GHGs) pumped into our atmosphere. If you’re interested, you can find more on this in the brilliant book Rooted by Sarah Langford).

Fortunately, there is hope. Organic food has become much more mainstream, supplied to us by companies including Planet Organic, Riverford Organic and Abel and Cole. The Soil Association’s annual UK Organic Market Report, revealed growth of 2% in the organic food and drink market last year, worth £3.2 billion. There is also an exciting buzz around ‘regenerative’ farming that I believe is helping to turn the tide. Wildfarmed are doing a fabulous job of promoting nature-friendly farming and while ‘regenerative’ and ‘Organic’ are not the same, they do share the same underlying aims of creating a restorative food system. There’ll be more on this in a future blog…

So what can you do?

If you’re looking for a great place to start buying Organic, I can personally recommend Riverford Organic. They’re 100% employee-owned and a high scoring B Corp, run by one of my all-time heroes, Guy Singh-Watson. They have delivered a weekly fruit & vegetable box to us for the past 20 years. The joy of receiving a surprise box of delights, that I know are free from the chemical residues widely found in conventional fruit and veg, is one of life’s simple pleasures. I’m also well aware it is a way for me to feel like I’m doing something, taking back control, in an uncertain world.

If you’d like to learn more about the Organic movement this Organic September, The Soil Association is a brilliant place to start.