Which is better: organic food or locally produced non-organic food?
This is a very complex question, and really depends on what's important to you when you're buying food. So if, for example, animal welfare's important to you, then you can rest assured that the animal welfare levels will be really high in organic produce and organic standards, so you might want to buy organic. People who tend to buy locally, if they're concerned about food miles - and food miles are something that are clocked up once the food is being produced. So, for example, we have these crazy systems where some food is produced in one area and then it has to be shipped all the way up to the other end of the country to be distributed to be sold all the way down again. And so buying locally can stop that happening. But what's also important to notice is that organic production is actually inherently local, because we're relying on nature for pest control in our fertility building. Or it's already on the farm, so there's no need to buy in fertilizers and pesticides that also probably have been transported long distances, even before the food is being produced. So it's just something to think about. Organic is generally inherently local as well. And it's much better for the environment. If, however, though, that's not to rule out local production as well, because if you're happy that the farmer can answer your questions about how the food is being produced and what things he's used on the land and you're happy with that dialogue, then by all means buy organic. But it's not as black and white as it should be. Ideally, organic is the ideal system of production, and local is the ideal system of distribution.
