Organic Family Life
How can I convince my child to eat organic food?
We've got lots of different ways and ideas of how you can get children to eat organic food. One of the best ways is to take children to an organic farm. The Soil Association has about 70 organic farms all over the country which are open to the public. So you can take your children along and go for walks and see how the chickens are growing up and how crops are raised and so on. Once you actually involve children in the process of producing organic food then they're much more likely to eat organic food--or have an interest in it anyway. We've had lots of schools that involve children in growing their own cabbages. Children hate cabbages, but evidence shows that if they've actually planted the cabbage themselves and they've gone back to the farm later, every single one of those children ate the cabbage. So if you can involve them in the cooking, or in picking up your veg box--or anything, actually--evidence shows that the children are much more likely to eat the organic food.
Will eating organic food help my child's development?
Anecdotally, we've got a lot of evidence that say that organic food does help a child's development. Twelve local authorities that have started to approve their meals have all said that the children's behaviour has markedly improved from eating organic food -- they're much calmer, they're much more able to concentrate. I think this is down to the fact that there aren't the additives in the food that make them so crazy and energetic. They are less likely to develop allergies as a result of eating food that's organic. We would definitely say, right across the board, teachers who are teaching children who have been eating good, healthy, nutritious food, have seen behaviour improve.
What are the advantages in using organic nappies?
There are lots of reasons why organic fibre nappies are better and lots of benefits to using them. Reusable organic nappies are better than non-organic, the main reason being that you're not subjecting your baby's bottom to all kinds of chemicals. As we know, skin absorbs about 60% of what's put on it. Organic nappies won't have bleaches or any ingredients that could cause health problems. They also don't contain this super absorbent gel about which there are some concerns as to how it might affect the baby's skin and health. Also, you can save about £500 a year by re-using nappies. So, it's safer, cleaner, and might save you money.
