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Organic

ORGANIC food ceased to be the preserve of the wealthy or the cranky back in June, when Iceland Frozen Foods announced it was turning all its vegetables organic with a guarantee that customers would not have to pay more.

It sparked a flurry of activity among the supermarket giants, competing to put over the greenest image to shoppers, who, in the wake of a series of food scares, including BSE, and worries about genetically modified products are becoming much more aware and informed about the food they eat.

The resulting competition has led to the cost of organic food being driven down as the giants battle for your housekeeping money.

While still around 10% more expensive than no-organic foods, big names like Tesco are investing £5 million to bring the price down, and others like Sainsbury's and Asda are having to look at similar moves.

At long last major retailers are waking up to the fact that ordinary people are fed up with being frightened of what they are giving their families to eat.

Sales of organic food have been growing by 40 per cent a year since 1995 and now amount to £550m a year - predicted to reach £1bn by the end of this year.

What is organic food?

Organic is a term which is defined by law and all food production is governed by a strict set of guidelines.

It means that the food has been produced without the use of artificial fertilisers and pesticides, relying instead on developing healthy, fertile soil through crop rotation methods.

Animals are reared without the routine use of antibiotics and other drugs that form the basis of conventional farming.

To be organic, stock or vegetables have to be produced without damaging the environment.

How do you know whether the food is organic?

Look for appropriate certification. The governing body for organic producers is the UK Register of Organic Food Standards (UKROFS), which sets the standards and conforms to EC directives.

Each certification body has its own logo and EU code number which you should look out for. It will consist of UK followed by a figure from 1 to 7.

The main certifying body, responsible for regulation of 70 per cent of the UK's food is the Soil Association. Other names to look out for are the Organic Food Federation (OFF), Organic Farmers and Growers (OF&G) and Demeter or Bio-Dynamic Agricultural Association (BDAA).

Is organic food really that much more healthy?

That depends on what you mean by healthy. Research has produced conflicting results about whether organically grown fruit and vegetables actually have more vitamins and trace minerals.

But you will be sure that it has not been treated with organophosphates, anti-viral agents, anti-biotics or irradiated, a process of which the long-term effects have not been calculated.

Some evidence suggests that the chemical pesticides and fertilisers in our food could be contributing to the rise in the incidence of cancer and in infertility in the Western world.

Organic growing methods are also kinder to the environment. Care is taken to grow food or rear stock without damaging the local wildlife, contaminating rivers and water supplies or leaching the soil of all its nutrients.

Use of manure and treated human waste for organic fertiliser means that care should be taken with cleaning this food in order to avoid the small chance of salmonella poisoning.

What types of food can I get?

In the last 10 years, the market has exploded. It is now possible to buy an organic version of almost anything, from jams and chutneys, meat and poultry to a wide range of wines and beers.

Bread is a boom area with a wide variety of delicious tasting textured loaves around, made by independent bakers like Sakers at Todmorden to the biggies like Warburtons.

You will not find fish with an organic label, as anything that lives in the ocean cannot be monitored. Farmed fish should be avoided by would-be organics as antibiotics are routinely used.

Where can I find organic food?

All major supermarket chains now have organic food, and Marks and Spencer has just increased its organic range.

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