Organic food can enhance your life - and help the environment, as Lynda Brown explains

The first step to an eco-lifestyle is to start enjoying some of the huge variety of organic foods you can now buy. In doing so you are choosing the healthiest option for you, your family and the environment.

Like organic farming, organic food offers you so much more than just food grown without artificial pesticides or fertilisers, and animals not raised in intensive conditions or propped up with antibiotics. You will also find that when you switch to organic produce you will start to discover more about how your food is produced and the people who produce and sell it, which will add to your cooking and eating pleasure.

As you begin to realise what eating organic can offer, you will become increasingly aware of the welfare and environmental issues surrounding modern food production. Not many people, for example, automatically think of buying organic bananas or coffee, but look a little further into the issues – dismal tales of worker and environmental exploitation – and you, too, will be converted. As well as feeling a sense of well-being through choosing organic, you will help to make things better for all of us and our environment.

It was not so long ago that organic food was dismissed as a niche – and therefore exclusive – market. All that has changed. Today, organic food is mainstream and available in every major supermarket. There is so much variety, and organic food is so widely available, that there is something to suit everyone. And do not presume that organic food is expensive – you will find items that match your budget.

Getting started
You don’t need to switch to a totally organic diet to begin enjoying its fruits. Whether you start with an organic loaf from the supermarket or a bunch of freshly harvested organic carrots from a farmer’s market, the same positive action will generate the same positive feelings. Many people comment on the flavour of organic food and, once you begin eating it on a regular basis, you will want to adapt your diet, shopping habits and budget to enable you to choose as much as possible.

1. BUY at least one organic item every time you shop.
2. START with everyday staples like bread, milk, potatoes and pasta.
3. TRY something new every week.
4. SNAP UP promotional and seasonal offers.
5. GO LOCAL for best value by joining a box scheme or visiting a farmer’s market. You can find out about your local box scheme in the following ways:

• contact the Soil Association (tel: 0117 929 0661) to order The Organic Directory (£7.95). This guide, compiled and edited by Clive Litchfield in association with the Soil Association, gives a comprehensive listing of organic suppliers including box schemes and home delivery services.
• Try a web search for organic box schemes in your area.
• Local Food Directories - the local agenda 21 officer at your council should be able to tell you if a directory of locally produced food has been published for your area. They may even advise you on a suitable box scheme.
• Arrange a visit to an organic farm through the Soil Association's Organic Farms Network, tel: 0117 929 0661
• Visit your nearest Farmers' Market. Send a SAE to: National Association of Farmers' Markets, Envolve, South Vaults, Green Park Station, Bath, BA1 1JB

Source: Organic Living by Lynda Brown (Dorling Kindersley)