Organic

Whether you’re new to organic wholefoods or have spent years establishing the best organic produce available, it would seem there’s always a little bit more to learn. But did you know that the word organic (and what use that label) is actually defined by law?

What do we mean by “organic”?

For a product to be labelled as organic, the ingredients must meet a strict set of standards that are defined by law. Though we think of organic as something simply grown freely, there are important criteria to meet before we can call it “organic”.

Farming organically means, in the simplest terms, that the food is “more good than bad”, and doesn’t contain all the icky stuff that our bodies don’t need and can even be quite bad for us. For farmers, that means restricting (quite severely) the use of fertilisers and pesticides, excluding all of those that use artificial chemicals. By doing this, the farmers must then rely on healthy, fertile soil, by developing it into a sustainable environment for growing various crops.

In addition to ethical, sustainable farming; under organic standards, the use of genetically modified crops and ingredients is also banned. Which means that at Wholefoody, any product you see labelled as organic has been grown to these exacting standards.

Why Choose Organic?

For those starting out with organic foods, one of the big questions is: why should we choose organic food? In supermarkets, organic food often seems to cost more, but the benefits of choosing organic produce far outweigh the cons.

Organic fruit and vegetables are considerably better for you than GM crops or crops grown using artificial chemicals and fertilisers.

A non-organic certified apple, for example, can be sprayed up to 16 times whilst developing, and with up to 36 different types of chemicals. Almost all of these chemicals can’t be washed off or removed, which means you’re consuming them as you eat your daily apple.

However, an organically grown apple (in fact, all organically grown produce) will be considerably better for you, thanks to the higher amounts of beneficial minerals, essential amino acids and of course, vitamins.

As for products that don't grow in crops, the benefits are just as good. According to research by British scientists, organic milk has almost 70% more essential fatty acid omega-3 than non-certified, non-organic equivalent milk. Since we can’t maintain normal bodily functions without these fatty acids, we’d say that’s pretty essential, and a bit of a no-brainer.

And don’t forget, organic produce at Wholefoody is good for more than just humans. It’s also great for the environment and wildlife in the UK, because organic farming puts out less pollution, produces less carbon dioxide and less dangerous waste. So it’s actually helping with global warming as well as supporting farmland wildlife.

Organic food also comes from trustworthy farms and food production companies; each certified organic, inspected at least once a year, and held to standards that are set by laws that apply to all of Europe.

Which is why at Wholefoody, we’ll always pick an organic product over a non-organic one, given the choice.

Organic Food Tastes Better

If that wasn’t enough to convince you to choose organic, try this: organic food simply tastes better. Yes, we know this is fairly difficult to quantify, because taste comes down to personal preference - but ask your friends and family who choose organic.

At Wholefoody, we think it’s because organic produce is grown the way that nature intended, with no artificial chemicals or pesticides involved. However, there are other reasons.

Organic food grows quite a bit more slowly when you don’t add chemicals to the mix, which means often the produce has a lower water content. In essence, if your food has less water in it, it’s not watered down. See what we mean? With less water, comes more flavour.

And flavour is essential!

Wholefoody Organic Suppliers

One part of organic produce that appeals to many is accountability, and having a real, genuine idea of where your food comes from. Sometimes, that even means being able to pinpoint on a map exactly where your food was grown!

Having a certified organic farm is no easy feat, though. The conversion to meet organic standards and the certification process can take time and hard work – sometimes up to two years from start to finish!

For farmers wishing to convert their farms to meet organic standards, there’s a lot of reading up to be done. There are also important standards and processes that farmers must be familiar with, which are upheld by various certifying bodies. And you’ll need to choose which body you want to work with, too.

It’s not as simple as knowing the process, following it and labelling your produce as organic. But there’s plenty of support available from the certifying bodies, including advice and guidance. Because at the end of the day, the more farmers that can be encouraged to go organic, the better!

At Wholefoody, we check our organic produce to ensure we know exactly where it’s coming from, and have built great working relationships with our suppliers. That’s how we can trust that everything marked as organic is correctly certified.

Organic Foods at Wholefoody

Organic foods and produce from Wholefoody come in all shapes and sizes (thanks to their lack of nasty pesticides and chemicals). We offer a wide range of organic choices, including grains, dried fruits, nuts and seeds, superfoods and more; all of which are personally guaranteed by us to meet organic standards. They also happen to be of the very best organic quality, just to top it off.

Choosing organic foods doesn’t have to be expensive, either. Many of our products are available to buy in bulk amounts, which can save you money. Whether or not you see a product in wholesale quantities, feel free to get in touch and talk to us about buying large amounts of organic products, and we’ll do what we can to work together to ensure you get all the nutritious benefits of organic wholefoods.