As a kid, in summers of the 90’s and early noughties, I remember my dad driving down the motorway, maybe we had been to Woodlands Adventure Park in Devon, or to the coast somewhere, and on that drive he’d frequently have to make use of the windscreen wash to clear away squished insects.
Anyone had that recently? Maybe if you’ve been driving in France, or another country where the application of pesticides, insecticides, herbicides onto crops isn’t prevailing.
In France they have water and squiggies at petrol stations for people to use. We’ve made it so there’s no such need here, as one of the most nature-depleted countries on earth.
Below ground
The details have dispersed from memory but I read about the mind-boggling complexity of soil in George Monbiot’s book Regenesis. Life down there can and should be extraordinary, but when we saturate fields with artificial fertilisers that life is obliterated.
Sovereignty and resilience
Upwards of 30% of the world’s artificial fertilisers transport, or did, through the Strait of Hormuz. The lands on which non-organic crops are grown can’t suddenly revert to being farmed via the methods so common prior to WW2. For centuries, farming allowed crops to grow at the pace that they would naturally grow. We can reverse course but not overnight. US and Israeli aggression could have grave consequences beyond West Asia later this year, when the lack of fertiliser leads to diminished harvests. With more organic farming in the UK we’d be less reliant upon imported fertilisers, less vulnerable to geopolitical events.
Each year, the UK produces around 370,000 tonnes of fertiliser and imports 1,287,000.
Rivers
The River Wye seems the most famous case, with the battle to save it from chicken poo, fertiliser run-off and sewage discharges. My basic understanding is that fertilisers run off farmland causing algal blooms, which over-oxygenate the river and suffocate other life, as well as straight-up poisoning with the discharge of often untreated sewage.
The three-part factual drama, Dirty Business, produced by Channel 4, is well worth a watch on the disgraceful reality of our privatised water industry.
Nutrition
This may sound to some like hogwash, but if you grow food in healthy soils at the pace they would naturally grow – make them work a little bit for the nutrients they need – they will be objectively more nutritious. Non-organic farming force-grows crops, not giving them the time to fully develop. Less than 5% of British strawberries are grown in the earth, which is partly why so many are pale in the middle. Grown properly, some foods reveal their quality in their colour.
A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition reported that organically produced crops (cereals, fruit and vegetables) had up to 68% more antioxidants than non-organic, whilst organic fruit and veg contained lower concentrations of pesticides and the toxic heavy metal cadmium.
Flavour
Just as with nutrition, if you grow slow the full flavour follows.
Emissions/ climate change
The major driver of food-related emissions isn’t whether or not it was grown near you but on the farming methods. It would be wonderful if no one ate lambs but as an example, lambs reared in Wales with feed of soy from China and corn from south America, which were grown with pesticides and fertilisers that have been industrially produced and transported over long distances, are more environmentally damaging than pasture fed lambs from New Zealand then transported to Europe.
Local is not always best but can be a cherry on the top. Organic farming encourages ‘closed loop’ methods, making use of what’s to hand and limiting the use of imported resources.
The Soil Association report that if Europe’s farmland all followed organic principles, agricultural emissions could drop by 40-50% by 2050.
Wildlife
Across the UK species studied have declined on average by 19% since 1970. 16% of species were at threat of extinction as of the State of Nature report of 2023. Intensive farming practices, especially pesticide use, have been identified as the main driver of these declines. Organic farming presents an alternative, by offering a safer environment for creatures such as bees, birds and butterflies, with 30% more biodiversity on average.
Water
Soils on organic farms store up to twice as much water, helping to protect against flooding, and fairing better during drought.
____________________________________________________________________________
In recent months I have been working for Riverford alongside Smaller Footprints. It has been nice to be at foodie / musical events, sometimes with my shoes and socks off, talking to people about good grub even more than we do on Regent Street.
I have been a customer since September 2020 and love that Riverford:
- Offer high choice and flexibility
- Grow and deliver only organic produce
- Take responsibility for any packaging they give you
- Don’t do contracts or subscriptions, you’re in no way tied in
- Is wholly employee owned, from the farmers to the delivery drivers
- Ranks very highly within B-Corp organisations
- Are rated 4.8 / 5 from over 20,000 Trustpilot reviews
- Introduce you to the farmers and producers of every item
If anyone would like to try it, to experience it for themselves, I would love to share more on how convenient I find the service, and to say a little more about the quality of the food.
I have access to promotional offers, including to the newly released wooden chopping board!
Have a great week x
