Is it worth spending extra on organic food?

With many of us watching the pennies when it comes to food shopping, buying organic food can seem like an unnecessary luxury.

However, there is research to suggest that organic produce has more antioxidants, less toxins and generally tastes better.

All the big supermarkets now stock organic food, which is grown without the use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides or other artificial chemicals, including budget store Aldi which launched a range this month.

In a bid to find the best and cheapest organic produce LOUISE HOWESON heads to Waitrose, Tesco and Aldi to find out more.

WAITROSE

Waitrose has a reputation for being the most middle class of all the major supermarkets.

I rarely shop there for fear I might have to remortgage my house.

The fruit and vegetable section was vast. I scanned the aisle, but I couldn’t find any organic food.

I was about to give up when a shop worker directed me to a separate organic section.

There was a fairly sparse selection to choose from, but I put that down to the fact it was late afternoon and they were due to restock.

I put an organic broccoli and a non-organic one in my basket to compare.

Organic range The supermarket has a range of 1,600 organic foods from fruit and veg, to meat and dairy.

How do they compare?

Organic broccoli £1.50 Non-organic broccoli £1.40 First impressions: You get two in a pack with the organic broccoli and they are much smaller and darker than the non-organic variety.

Raw taste test: The non-organic variety has a less intense flavour than the organic one and is softer to bite.

Stilton and broccoli soup taste test: I chopped one onion and fried it in a pan with some oil and left it to simmer for five minutes. One chopped leek and a chopped potato went into the pan with a litre of chicken stock and the chopped broccoli stalks.

Once the vegetables were soft, I added the broccoli stems and cooked for a further five minutes.

Once the mixture was hand-blended, I stirred in 140g of stilton and finished it with a swirl of creme fraiche and a twist of pepper to serve.

The verdict: Once cooked, the organic version of the soup tasted more intensely of broccoli than the non-organic one, which was overpowered by the stilton cheese.

What the nutrionist says: Nutritional therapist Nicola Ragon-Paxton, who runs ilovegreens.co.uk, says: “Broccoli has a large surface area, so you could say it has more potential to absorb chemicals in non-organic varieties.

“It is fantastically high in vitamins C and B – it has more vitamin C than oranges! You will lose some of the soluble C and B vitamins when boiling it, but if you are making soup use the water it was boiled in and you will keep the vitamins.

Otherwise, steaming is the best way to retain the vitamins.”

TESCO

Tesco is a well-oiled machine when it comes to stocking organic food. I found the organic and non-organic carrots within five minutes of being there.

The produce is laid out in a very logical way.

Organic range It has a huge range of organic food, including meat, dairy, baked goods, biscuits and baby food.

How do they compare?

Organic carrots £1.70 Non-organic carrots £1.50 First impressions: I bought the non-organic carrots with the tops, so they actually looked more appealing than the plastic-wrapped organic ones.

Raw taste test: There was a huge difference in taste with the organic ones.

They were sweeter and denser than the other ones, which were watery and insipid.

Carrot cake taste test: I preheated my oven to 180C and lined a baking tray and a cake tin with parchment.

Into a mixing bowl, I added 175g light muscovado sugar, 175ml of sunflower oil and three large eggs and then lightly mixed it all withawooden spoon. I stirred in 140g grated carrots, 100g raisins and the zest of one orange.

Next, I mixed 175g selfraising flour, one teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and one teaspoon of nutmeg and cinnamon and mixed them it into a liquid batter.

Once in the tins, I baked the mixture for 40 minutes.

For the frosting, I beat 175g icing sugar and around two tablespoons of orange juice and drizzled over once both cakes were cool.

The verdict: Once I added sugar and icing to the mix, both cakes tasted good. However, I could taste the carrot coming through more in the organic cake and two blind taste tests with my husband and mother-in-law came up with the same result.

What the nutritionist says: “You could peel the carrots to remove some of the chemicals in non-organic ones, but then you do lose most of the nutrients which are in the skin.

Washing them will get some of it off, but pesticides are made to be rain resistant so youwon’t get it all off.

“You have made the carrots into a cake, which is fine because youwill still get the benefit of the beta keratins. The only downside is adding the sugar to the mix, which is not something we should be eating lots and lots of.”

ALDI

As more customers have started shopping at budget supermarkets, they have had to cater for the demand for organic foods.

When I got to the fruit and veg section there was a lot of variety. The organic food was interspersed with the rest. I found an organic cauliflower, but there wasn’t a non-organic option. Instead I got a multi-pack of chopped cauliflower, broccoli and carrot with a plan to pick the cauliflower out.

Organic range The store introduced organic food just this month. The range includes cauliflower, carrots, broccoli and onions. The supermarket says it could see customers save 25 per cent on their usual organic basket.

How do they compare?

Organic cauliflower £1.19 Non-organic vegetable medley 99p First impressions: I opened the non-organic packet of vegetables and was dismayed to find they were on the turn slightly. It was the day of the use-by date and the limp cauliflower looked distinctly lacklustre.

Raw taste test: Browning cauliflower raw is not the most appealing thing in the world. It tasted a bit soft compared to the crisp and fresh-tasting organic one.

Cauliflower cheese taste test: To make cauliflower cheese, I chopped up the cauliflower and brought it to the boil for five minutes.

Once cooked, I drained it and tipped it into an oven-proof dish.

I made a roux with 50g of margarine melted in a pan and then four tablespoons of plain flour, which I cooked out for and minute before adding 500ml of milk a bit at a time, until it formed a lovely thick sauce. I added 100g of strong cheddar and topped the cauliflower with the sauce.

After a sprinkle of cheese, it went back into the oven to bake.

The verdict: Even mouldy cauliflower tastes nice when it’s smothered in cheese sauce!

What the nutritionist says: “I think it is positive that Aldi has launched a budget range, but it does concern me that the profits might not be passed on to the producer. There is a reason organic food is expensive – it’s because it takes more money and work to grow the food.

“Cauliflower is a great source of vitamin C and one cup has around 77 per cent of vitamin K, folate and vitamin B6.”

CONCLUSION

After aweek of comparing vegetables, I have come round to the idea of buying organic produce. The flavour is so much better and it doesn’t seem to be thatmuch more expensive.

It has made me think more about where the produce I buy comes from and the toxins that make their way on to our dinner plates.

According to some research, organic food has more of the antioxidant compounds linked to better health than regular food, and lower levels of toxic metals and pesticides.

Nicola says: “I buy organic fruit and vegetables and meat when I can. There is evidence for both sides, but some research suggests there are more antioxidants in organic produce because it uses its natural defences to fight off predators and disease in place of chemicals being used. It actually makes logical sense theywould have more goodness in them.

“Antioxidants are beneficial to us because they fight off freeradicals, the chemicals which attack our cells and can cause cancer.

“If you are going to buy any organic foods make them ones where you eat the skin or which are grown in soil, like root vegetables. Things like oranges, where you peel the skin, are not quite so important to buy organic.

“Ultimately, it depends on your reasons for buying organic. If you want to support a more traditional farming method with less impact on the environment then it’s always good to go organic.”