'I ate only organic food for a week - hidden benefit and terrifying discovery'
It may not be a date you've marked on your calendar, but this month is 'Organic September'. It's a campaign that aims to encourage everybody to consider the benefits of switching to an organic lifestyle.
I've dabbled with trying to buy more organic foods in recent years, but I wondered just how easy it would be to do my full weekly shop with ONLY organic products - and how much extra it would cost me.
One of the barriers for many people to switching to organic is the price - as organic produce is by and large more expensive than its non-organic alternatives in supermarkets. As I discovered during my shopping trips, there is also a very limited range of organic goods in many supermarkets.
Foods and products can only be labelled as organic if they meet certain standards set by The Soil Association. These include no artificial fertilisers and pesticides used in the growing processes.
On its website the organisation describes the benefits of organic living saying: "The way we farm and eat can make a world of difference. By opting for an organic lifestyle, you're helping support a way of farming with higher animal welfare standards that is better for the planet, wildlife and people."
There are claims that organic food retains more nutrients and, one thing we do know is that eating more whole foods in general, and ditching ultra-processed foods, is a much better choice for healthy living.
With all this in mind, I decided to set out and eat a fully organic diet for a week to see how it would make me feel, and also how much it would actually cost to shop in this way. Here's how I got on.
How easy was it to do a full organic shop?
Well, this was my first hurdle. I tried some of the supermarkets closest to where I live to try and work out where I'd be able to do a full organic shop.
I was disappointed to find only one organic item in my local Aldi - and that was a small bunch of bananas. When I went online and typed in 'organic' nothing came up either.
Next I tried Asda, where there was a very limited selection of organic fruit and vegetables in the store I went to, in fact the organic section looked really pretty poor with loads of empty cartons. I couldn't find any organic meats in the fridges either.
Marks and Spencer offered a fuller range of organic meats and vegetables, but Waitrose was the supermarket I found nearest to me that offered the largest range across fresh and cupboard goods to enable me to do a full organic weekly shop for family meals. It also boasts the UK's largest own-label range of organic goods, Waitrose Duchy Organic.
Waitrose was also the best for displaying organic goods in store as well - there were clearly marked sections just for organic fruit and vegetables - with a big range of goods in both sections. They even had a special 'Organic September' fridge too, showcasing items from across their range.
How much it all cost
This is a breakdown of the full shop that I did at Waitrose. The grand total came in at £144.35 - which is around £50 more than I would usually spend on my regular weekly shop which is obviously quite a lot more.
The biggest expense by far was on the organic meats. In particular the £16.36 chicken. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the vegetables were only a little bit more expensive than the non-organic alternatives.
All items are Waitrose's Duchy Organics brand unless stated.
Beef mince (500g) - £5.50
Pork steaks - £6.90
Smoked salmon slices - £8.50
Wholemeal bloomer - £2
Yeo Valley cream of tomato soup - £2.25
Bananas - £1.95
Green beans - £2.15
Carrots - £1.40
Potatoes - £1.95
Jazz apples - £2.55
Strawberries - £3.50
Little gem lettuce - £1.75
Vine tomatoes - £2.50
Raspberries - £2.85
Hipp Organic Lasagne (baby food) - £2.20
Babich Organic Sauvignon Blanc - £14.99
Clipper Organic Coffee - £6
Shortbread fingers - £2.25
Whole Milk (2 pints) - £1.65
Yeo Valley Greek yoghurt - £1.50
Buckwood Maple Syrup - £6
Stilton cheese - £3.50
Shaved parmesan cheese - £2.90
Mozzarella ball - £1.80
Kallo beef stock cubes - £2
Curry powder - £1.95
Whole-wheat penne pasta - £1.90
Salted butter - £2.60
Basmati rice - £3.40
Romano peppers - £2.30
Whole chicken - £16.36
Walnuts - £3.75
Honey roast ham - £3.75
Jar of passata - £1.50
Tomato puree - £1.40
Kikkoman soy sauce - £4.50
Large eggs - £3.50
Montezuma milk chocolate buttons - £5.20
TOTAL PRICE: £144.35
What were the benefits?
There have been claims that organically-farmed produce retains more nutrients, but evidence doesn't necessarily back that up. But if eating less chemicals in your diet is the aim, then organic is undoubtedly the way to go as they are farmed without pesticides or artificial fertilisers.
In terms of how I felt it benefited my personal health, well, the first thing I'd say is that making a conscious effort to eat entirely organic means you're having a whole food diet. Even the items you could class as 'processed' in some way, like the shortbread fingers and chocolate buttons, had additive-free ingredient lists.
I was able to make a range of healthy, nutritious meals for my family from the produce I got in store, the likes of pasta Bolognese and roast chicken with veg and pork stew.
It was pretty satisfying then that after a week of eating purely organic foods, and being able to still have treats like the chocolate buttons and wine, when I weighed myself I'd lost two pounds.
I had not been doing this as a 'diet' as such, but it was a great benefit that eating in a more conscious way with just organic whole food, without going hungry in any way, helped me to lose weight.
The verdict
With organic methods of farming more environmentally friendly, buying organic is definitely something that I will aim to do more of in my weekly shop.
By consciously seeking organic choices, I found some products I would never normally have picked up that I felt tasted better than non-organic alternatives - like the Clipper coffee and the Buckwood maple syrup.
But the price of the meats was quite frankly a bit terrifying - particularly that £16 chicken. I was hoping to be totally wowed by it after cooking, but it just tasted like.... chicken.
It also seemed particularly small, and whereas my normal purchase of a £3.70 whole chicken stretches to making two family meals, this one bore only enough meat for one meal for two adults and two children.
I simply cannot justify that kind of cost on a regular basis unfortunately. However, smaller swaps, particularly on the fruit and veg, is definitely something that I'd be happy to budget for in future.
The fact I lost weight doing it as well as giving me a boost and encouraged me in my wider aims to ditch ultra-processed foods from my own diet.