The question: should we choose natural and organic food over other produce? The answer: maybe yes and maybe no. I’m putting on my fence-sitting hat here, as for me there cannot be a straight answer. Financial, lifestyle or health choices, including dietary restrictions, often dictate our eating and drinking habits, but for me, the taste of what I’m consuming is of paramount importance. I dislike mass-produced low quality produce, as much as anyone, but just because something is produced on a grand scale and may not qualify as "natural", due to its list of ingredients, does not automatically void it of nutritional or organoleptic worth. However, could the Natural Food Show component of the "Natural & Organic Products Europe Fair" at London’s Kensington Olympia this week convince me to change my eating and drinking habits? I went along to find out more.
Organic or Local : you choose !
Organic produce may be a wonderful thing, but there are some, err, buts! For example, it tends to be quite expensive, not always readily available, can have shorter shelf lives and may be flown in thousands of miles before it reaches you. Sales of organic food in the UK are 10 times higher than they were in the mid-nineties. However, in our current climate of economic and financial hardship, sales of organic produce are unsurprisingly dropping.