As a father of two and a person who loves his food, the contents of the meals served up on my table are very important to me. Like everyone, I want my food to taste good, but I also want it to do me some good. I want it cheap, I want it healthy, I want it varied and I don’t want to spend too much of my time shopping for it. To satisfy these criteria there are many ways to buy my food, but the one I’m going to look at now is the box scheme. Organic box schemes have been around for about 20 years now and are really gaining in popularity, not only among the environmentally-minded, but also among the culinary-minded and the healthy-minded; but why? In this article I want to look at organic box schemes, examine the pros and cons of buying organic food, investigate whether or not organic farming is better for the planet and explain how buying organic and using a box scheme may help you reduce your carbon footprint.
What is an organic box scheme?
An organic box scheme is basically a food delivery service. Once you have signed up you will receive a box full of organic fruit or veg or both delivered to you house every week. The reason it’s called a box scheme is because (yes, I’m sure you’re way ahead of me on this one…) it’s brought to you in a box. The majority of schemes will have you choose the box you want, say for example a medium box containing 7 types of veg and 4 types of fruit, but you will also be able add on other things, such as extra fruit or veg, organic meat, fish, eggs or even eco-friendly household products. As a rough guide, a medium box of fruit and veg for a family of four will cost you between £15 and £20. Any good scheme will give you the option of setting preferences so that if you don’t like a particular product they will exclude it from your box. Some of the suppliers have an option to express favourites so that when any substitutions are made they will endeavour to place those most highly rated by you in your box. One of the joys of a box scheme (at least for the more adventurous of us) is that there is always a little surprise when you open up your box each week, as the company will select the produce that is to be included. This can often be something that you wouldn’t normally buy, or even something you have never heard of before. This will inevitably prompt you to cook a new recipe and you may even discover a favourite new vegetable; jerusalem artichokes, for example. Before receiving them in our box, my wife had never even heard of a jerusalem artichoke, but ever since that day she religiously makes us a jerusalem artichoke stew every year when they come into season – which brings me to another point. The majority of produce in your box will be food that’s in season because it’s grown in this country; parsnips in winter, asparagus in spring and strawberries in summer. If you’re one of those who like to eat a bit of everything all year round then I’m afraid you may be disappointed. If, however, you want to buy local food that’s in season and tastes great, well then, please read on. All the box schemes that I have looked at tend to source the majority of their produce from local farms and will often give you a good run down on the farm, where it is, who owns it, etc. When they do sell a product that is shipped in from abroad, most companies will not use any food that has been flown in by air, but do keep an eye on this.
What is organic produce and why choose it?
Basically, organic agriculture uses methods that don’t involve artificial chemicals. The herbicides and pesticides sprayed on the crops are strictly restricted and artificial chemical fertilisers are banned completely. Organic livestock is always free-range and is never fed growth hormones or routinely treated with antibiotics or wormers. As you would expect, genetically modified (GM) produce is also banned. The governing body for organic food is the Soil Association [1] who have exceedingly strict standards as to what can be classified as organic food.
There are three main reasons why people buy organic: health, environment and taste. I shall briefly explain the reasons behind each:
Health – While the jury is still out on the health benefits of eating organic food, many people believe that the high quantities of chemicals sprayed on our food during the growing process is having an impact on our health. More concerning is the use of growth-boosting hormones and antibiotics that many non-organic farm animals are given to help them grow bigger and stay healthy. Residues from these are finding their way in our food supply through meat, eggs and diary products, such as milk and cheese. Growth hormones have been linked to an increase in premature puberty in girls [2] while the liberal doses of antibiotics used by farmers has been suggested as being cause for MRSA increasingly turning up in hog farmers who contract it from their animals [3]. Lower crowding on free-range farms also lowers the risk of E.coli transmission.
Environment – There are numerous negative impacts that agriculture has on the environment that organic farming avoids. To begin with, organic farming encourages farms to work within a diverse ecosystem that keeps pests down and maintains soil fertility, while simultaneously avoiding those large swathes of monoculture fields. It has been found that organic farms are richer in birds, beetles, butterflies, bats and wild flowers than non-organic farms; not surprising really considering non-organic farming in the UK alone uses around 31,000 tonnes chemicals to kill weeds and pests that attack crops [4]. The creation of these chemicals uses large quantities of fossil fuels and emits considerable amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. At the other end of their lifecycle, many of these fertilisers run off into the aquatic environment causing damage to rivers and oceans. Organic farms, however, use only natural fertilisers on their crops: compost, manure and such like. Which leads nicely on to the next heading…
Taste – Studies have been inconclusive in this area, however, from my own experience, organic food generally tastes better. You can do your own research on this one.
Another issue that box schemes address is food miles. UK carbon emissions from food transport were about 19 million tonnes in 2002, resulting from food travelling about 30 billion kilometres (24 million miles) [5]. Because box schemes keep the majority of their produce local, it has to travel less distance thus lowering your food’s carbon footprint. Additionally, you are essentially apour trailsshopping from home, which has also been shown to reduce carbon emissions.
Two quick points I’d like to make here though. The first one is don’t think that all organic food is good for the planet; you have to look where it’s come from. For instance, an organic apple that has been air freighted from New Zealand has a much larger carbon footprint than a non-organic apple that comes from a farm 40 miles away from your house. It will also taste better as it will have been picked at the right time for eating. The second point is that food miles are not always a clear indicator of carbon emissions. A lot depends on the type of transport used. For example, using air to transport produce is 40-100 times more damaging to the environment than deep-sea freight. If the entire contents of an organic box were flown from Kenya, the box’s carbon footprint would increase about 25 times [6].
I have mentioned these two points simply to make you aware that – as with everything else in life – the best way forward is never that simple. Nonetheless, if you do sign up for a box scheme or buy local produce, it will almost certainly be better for you and the planet than buying at the supermarket.
Other options to box schemes
One downside to organic box schemes is that they can be a little on the pricey side. However, that doesn’t mean that you have to buy your fruit and veg at the supermarket, there are other options:
- Farmers markets can be found across the country and you will find a good range of local produce, albeit a little on the expensive side. To keep down your carbon emissions from travelling, you may want to time your trip to the farmer’s market with a visit to the supermarket (my local farmer’s market is every Saturday in Sainsbury’s car park – nice).
- Farm shops are a good source of very local food, although the variety can be a bit thin.
- Regular markets will often have a fruit and veg man. They are usually very cheap, although you won’t find much organic produce there and it may not all be local.
- My personal choice is to use the local green grocer. Not only are they cheap, but also a lot of the stuff is locally produced.
- The last option is to grow your own. Now I would love to have the time and the space for this but I don’t, so all I grow are a few herbs and some blueberries. There is, however, a big ‘grow your own’ movement at the moment so getting advice on how best to grow your own produce has never been easier.
Almost all of the above options will save carbon emissions, some will save you money, and all are more stimulating then trudging up and down the same old fruit and veg isles at the supermarket.
In summary then…
Now, I have to admit here that I have cancelled my box scheme. This is not because everything good that I have just told you about them is a lie, but because of the fact that I am lucky enough to have two excellent greengrocers near me. However, while looking at the different companies that are out there, it appears that box schemes may have come down quite a bit in price and I’m tempted to take one up again. While they still may be a little more expensive than the supermarket, you have to consider that facts that you are saving carbon emissions from agriculture and food transport; the produce is usually first class; it contains no nasty pesticides, antibiotics or growth hormones; organic farming is better for the planet, and you are supporting a local enterprise and local farmers. There are some very good box schemes to choose from at the moment and if you love your planet and you love your food, then I unreservedly suggest you give one a try. Bon appétit.
References
[1] http://www.soilassociation.org/
[2] http://www.livescience.com/health/070904_bad_puberty.html
[3] Kulger, J. (2010) What’s So Great About Organic Food? Time magazine, September 6th Issue. Time Warner Publishing
[4] http://www.soilassociation.org/Whyorganic/Welfareandwildlife/tabid/216/Default.aspx
[5] http://www.defra.gov.uk/evidence/economics/foodfarm/reports/documents/Foodmile.pdf
[6] http://www.riverfordenvironment.co.uk/faqs.aspx?PageView=Shared#2
