Organic: As good as it gets?

Having grown up on a farm and seeing the process behind farming fresh produce I have always been particularly sceptical of organic produce and its reputed health benefits... or taste benefits for that matter. One thing I noted is that non-organic produce on our farm was not sprayed with so-called harmful pesticides, so what exactly made it different to the perfectly formed and uniformly coloured fruits and veg sold in the organic section of Sainsburys?

Okay, I understand the benefit of eating organic free range meat. For one it tastes significantly different... which is why I don't mind paying the significantly different price tag. Its worth it and I much prefer eating free roaming animals who have been fed real food as opposed to stock that is raised in a cage and fed a pureed mixture of who knows what through a tube mainlining to their stomach.

But the question remains about fruit and veg and is organic really better than other produce?

The Food Standards Agency refuted claims that organic has any nutritional benefits over standard produce. So with the health argument out of the way I decided to undertake a little practical taste test. For the purposes of this exercise I decided to compare organic tomatoes to seasonal tomatoes. The reason for this is that I usually try and buy seasonal fruit and veg because I am not a fan of cold storage and degreening methods. I do believe that these are damaging to your health... not to mention detrimental to my palate!

I selected my organic tomatoes from Sainsburys and I got my tomatoes from my Abel & Cole box which reports to supply seasonal produce.

I remember when organic first starting hitting the mainstream shopper. My dad first introduced me to the concept following a trip to the states where organic had just starting making the news. Back then organic was hideously misshapen and sizing and colouring was very uneven. A lot of the produce used to sport wind damage and overall it was not very attractive. There was however not a trace of anything misshapen or wind damaged in the organic section of Sainsburys. Yes, some items were a bit smaller in size to normal produce but everything was uniformly coloured and really quite perfect looking which, as you can imagine, only fueled my scepticism of organic produce!

Okay, down to the results. I asked my husband to chop up both tomatoes so that I could do a blind tasting. The result? Well, I have never been one to sit on the fence and I have never been shy to choose a side and make up my mind about something however any difference in taste was totally indiscernible. The only difference I could pick out (and I am really clutching at straws here) was that the skin on the organic tomato was slightly thicker and it took a bit more jaw action to chomp it up.

Overall verdict? I am quite happy to remain sceptical over the organic fruit and veg until proven otherwise!