Western Morning News (Saturday)
Question your food and drink if you want to help save the planet
It’s Organic September and time to ask: ‘Who grew it – and how?’ says Martin Hesp
It’s Organic September – yet another promotional flag being waved in the calendar... and in this case it is a worthy and timely flag because it comes ahead of the massively important – many would say crucial – COP26 climate summit in November.
The Soil Association, which promotes Organic September, says: “We are raising awareness of the incredible benefits organic farming can bring for our climate, for wildlife and for our health, too. Join the growing movement for nature-friendly farming this month, and help to build a greener future that has sustainable food at its heart.”
And so, ultimately, it’s we individuals, we consumers, who are being asked to make the all-important decisions at a grassroots level. Consumer power is a mighty sword, although it is never quite as straightforward as it sounds for many reasons, being strapped for cash and not being able to afford the more expensive organic option being just one.
On the other hand, there are some very simple decisions to be made. Anyone who has ever tasted a proper raw organic carrot and compared it to its cheap supermarket cousin may well have been converted, despite the extra few pence per pound. There is no comparison, which prompts the question: why would anyone want to spend any money on something that tastes of nothing much at all? Speaking from my own experience, I was once taken through a carrot-grower’s year by a big commercial grower and I have never bought a non-organic carrot since. It’s not only been the comparison in flavour – it was the jaw-dropping amount of chemicals applied to the average field on non-organic carrots. In my non-scientific way, I thought: “Blimey, some of that stuff must be going into me if I eat one of those carrots. If someone presented me a small teaspoonful of one of those chemicals, would I put it in my mouth? No. Not ever!”
Then again, some things labelled organic can be eye-wateringly expensive and the differential can certainly seem unreasonable when the eating experience fails to add up. I do not eat ‘ready-meals’ as a rule, but have been to professional tastings where, for example, an organic shepherd’s pie scored far less in flavour than its mainstream counterpart.
But, of course, the ‘eating experience’ is only a part of the overall organic argument. In every walk of life we have heroes and as a food writer there are several people in my trade who’s every word I admire, the Westcountry journalist Graham Harvey and the American author Michael Pollan being two prime examples. And those guys have for years been saying: “We are what we eat – and if we eat meat or dairy, then we are whatever that creature has eaten.”
So all those vital minerals, microbes, bacteria and so on which exist in good rich soils will reach our metabolisms even if they are being delivered secondhand by meat or dairy. Science has yet to fully understand the full complexities of these benefits, but there is little doubt that food grown on good, rich soil can benefit human health. It seems to make sense. If a soil is so denuded of its natural richness that it cannot grow a crop without vast amounts of chemical help, how can that be anything but a recipe for disaster? It’s a bit like saying a glass of water with a little fruit concentrate added will do as one of your five fruit or veg a day.
In his book In Defence of Food, Pollan pulls apart the modern ‘Western Diet’ and shows how so many diseases such as cardiac ill health and diabetes do not exist in more primitive societies where they farm and eat more naturally.
Of course, any claim that an organic diet is some way superior does require proper scientific research – and that is difficult because the sort of people willing to learn about and spend extra on healthy foods and drinks are, quite obviously, the sort of people who are willing to take extra care of their health in general, so they’re probably going to live longer, fitter lives.
Moving away from human health there’s the poor old planet itself and the COP26 climate summit in November. Pollan writes: “When soil is damaged, it releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and this has had
serious consequences for the climate. The good news is we now know how to put carbon back in the soil where it belongs... What had been atmospheric carbon, a problem, becomes soil carbon, a solution.”
You could, of course, fill entire library shelves with words on the subject of organics on the grand scale, but what about the scene closer to home? The first thing to say is that it is an area whose waters are about to become a lot muddier, if you’ll forgive that earthy way of putting it – because many will argue that the new kid on the block, otherwise known as ‘regenerative farming’, is about to become a very big thing indeed.
Some describe it as a move that goes a long towards organic, but doesn’t quite meet the high bar set by the Soil Association. That said, regenerative agriculture is all about looking after soils with careful and selective planting techniques and supplementing fertility with carefully thought out grazing practices. Now that the UK is setting up its own agricultural policies having left the EU, many think regenerative could become mainstream rather than niche because it does tick so many boxes, from human and animal health right through to carbon sequestration.
At RAW Food and Drink PR, we deal with two food-based companies which are taking an interest in this movement, namely
Trewithen Dairy and Matthews Cotswold Flour.
Others, like Sandford Orchards, have large amounts of organically grown core ingredients in their products anyway. Most orchards that supply Barny Butterfield with his apples are never sprayed with anything and even the ones that are farmed use the “lightest of touches”. But, of course, the word ‘organic’ has legal implications – there is no ‘almost organic’, so Barny cannot sell his ciders as such.
We do, however, represent two Westcountry companies which can claim organic credentials. For over a decade, Ivybridge-based Owens Coffee has roasted a 100% certified organic and Fairtrade coffee range
and sustainability has been at the heart of the business from day one. For the company, that covers the protection of the people and communities involved in producing the coffee they roast, as well as protecting the environment.
“When we set out in 2010, there were very few roasters and even fewer who had sustainability high on their list of values,” says managing director, Lorraine Bridden (pictured far left).
“We are fortunate to live and work in an area of outstanding natural beauty, and this was the starting point which encouraged us to factor environmental issues into our business. It’s important to us and it’s important to our customers.
“In the UK, we drink 95 million cups of coffee a day. That comes with a huge impact,” added Lorraine. “By choosing organic, we know that this means no nasty chemicals or pesticides, which is important both for the environment, for those who buy and drink our coffee and for those people who are involved in farming our beans and their wider communities.”
Owens Coffee worked hard to gain certification from the Soil Association, which monitors the product from farming to the roasting process and all the way to the cup. The company even goes the extra mile in sustainability,
ensuring its coffee is ‘clean-roasted’. The business invested in ‘clean technology’ when it recently replaced its roasting equipment – its new eco-roaster uses 80% less energy and reduces greenhouse gases at every roasting.
Not far across South Devon at Luscombe Drinks, owner Gabriel David was the first drinks producer in the UK to gain organic accreditation by the Soil Association. Then, three years ago, the company added to its green credentials by planting a unique elderflower orchard, which has recently gained organic certification. The 2,000 trees in a 50-acre field run by the Agroforestry Research Trust, based at Dartington Estate, is, according to Luscombe, the largest elderflower project of its kind.
This year marked the first season when the elders came of age to produce a proper crop of flowers, which Luscombe has used in its drinks.
Indeed, the company was awarded a Royal Warrant earlier this year in recognition of its high quality organic drinks.
In the meantime, have a happy and healthy Organic September. Now more than ever it is important that we think carefully about the food and drink we purchase.
The question ‘who grew it and how?’ has come of age.