When it's worth going ORGANIC

It can put a dent in the budget so, if money is tight, understand what you’re buying

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When you sit down for a meal, do you really know what you’re putting on your plate? These days, there’s a cocktail of pesticides present in a lot of non-organic food, yet only 1.2%* of the food and drink sold in the UK is organic. This is largely because the price tag of organic produce can be double or even triple that of the non-organic equivalent. With the cost-of-living crisis on our minds, this puts it out of reach for many shoppers.

According to one survey, 39% of people said that although organic foods were once regarded as ‘must-have’ items, organic and Fairtrade foods were now bottom of their shopping lists**. This is unsurprising given that, in November 2023, the Office of National Statistics reported that in the last two weeks, 46% of adults had been forced to spend ‘more than usual to get what they normally buy when food shopping’.

Because of the time and effort that goes into organic production, it can be more expensive, says the Soil Association’s Alex Cullen. ‘But many own-brand organic products aren’t much more expensive than their counterparts.’ So, if we’re able to stretch the budget a little, what organic produce should we pick and what can we skip?

Worth the investment