I guess I am talking to subscribers to this site living in the UK. I
don't know about other places.

I am 76 years old so although I can fully recognise the concern of
parents who seek organic produce I feel that by now any damage has been
done. So I don't go out of my way to seek organic. What I do seek is
meat from a supplier who I firmly believe has cared well for his
animals (and this doesn't include pumping them with this and that in
order to get higher prices) but hasn't paid the £400 to be officially
classed as 'organic'

I have been brainwashed into thinking that small 'organic' producers
are the ones to patronise but I've now re-assessed my thinking.

We recently patronised (at considerable expense) such a well-known
supplier. They produce their own beef but outsource the rest of their
'organic' produce.

The beef was superb. Truly superb. But the cheese was uneatable
because it simply wasn't cheese at all - when cut it ran all over the
plate and the table (which the suppliers instantly agreed and made a
refund) The 'dry cured' bacon was so salt nobody could eat it. The
pork was OK. The vegetables were OK but incredibly expensive. And
tonight we had a chicken, which for size, stringyness and lack of fat
and flavour, has only ever been worsed by one I bought in France years
ago.

Whilst I think it only fair to other members of this group to name
names I will do so via e-mail rather than mention it on this site. But
it does make me rethink my position. Some of these 'famous' names
clearly don't deserve their reputation. But having said that, I
bought in Wells market wonderful mutton and chicken from two small
farms that clearly care for their animals (our friends know them well)
but make no organic claims - let alone 'famous' ones.

Oh dear. I had thought it all so simple to support the small producer
who was really doing good work. Maybe the "small" is correct but the
"good work" can be often way adrift! The food press, I feel, is too
blinkered in its assessment. So I'm right back in the melting pot.

Derek
Oxshott, Surrey

at Tue, 30 May 2006 20:03:36 GMT in 1149016791.504926.250050
@j55g2000cwa.googlegroups.com, wrote :

I guess I am talking to subscribers to this site living in the UK. I
don't know about other places.

....
I have been brainwashed into thinking that small 'organic' producers
are the ones to patronise but I've now re-assessed my thinking.

We recently patronised (at considerable expense) such a well-known
supplier. They produce their own beef but outsource the rest of their
'organic' produce.

The beef was superb. Truly superb. But the cheese was uneatable
because it simply wasn't cheese at all...

There are reasons to patronise organic (and/or small, local) producers but,
just like conventional producers, quality varies. The label organic is no
guarantee of quality in terms of flavour (or any other sensory category).

I'd say it was no surprise that the beef from this particular producer was
superb but other things were iffy. Only what they can produce for
themselves do they have any control over and if they're well-recognised, it
would be for that which they do for themselves, not what they outsourced.
With outsourced foods you might just as well have gone to Waitrose.

So you have to shop for quality in the same way one always did - by
inspection, understanding, and some experimentation. The look and feel of
good beef, or good beans, or good potatoes, is something that you can
usually readily identify and distinguish from the also-rans.

That said, in the categories where organic producers are commonplace, *if*
you can find a quality producer, they will usually have better-tasting
foods than those available from most quality conventional producers. But
again as much of this is due to obsession with quality as anything else -
and those who obsess over the quality of what they produce often lean
towards organic production if for no other reason that that the label
allows them to sell at a higher price and recoup some of their efforts in
aiming for quality.

Remember also that it depends on the season as well. Out-of-season produce
is going to be at least as bad, if not in fact worse, from an organic
producer. So if you buy organic strawberries in September, you can rest
assured that they will be just as hard, sour, and tasteless as the
conventional ones.

I would encourage you to continue to support organic, local producers - but
with a more open eye and with more critical thinking. Don't expect the
quality to be there automatically, and buy from the producers whose quality
is good enough to merit any extra price. In this way not only do you
support good farming practices, you also support quality production and
encourage more farmers to deliver good, rather than merely edible, foods.


--
Alex Rast

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)