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erhaps it is just coincidence. but the opening day of
the Organic Food Festival in Glasgow is also
‘climate chaos day‘. The two issues. organic growing and global warming. are not unrelated. in many positive as well as a few negative ways.
()rganic agriculture practices deploy no pesticides. herbicides. and other chemicals (often cranked out by the petrochemical industry) that harm the environment or skew the natural order. It should mean recycling and composting. regenerating the soil with the nutrients that decaying plants once removed. It can mean less dependency on fossil fuels and on our carbon economy. ()rganic philosophy — science driven by ethical considerations — is fundamentally beneficial to the ecology.
But. alas. in our globalised. consumer-driven market economies. it also means the unfortunate habit of flying organic produce across the globe. So. however much I enjoy an organic apple. it is relative madness to buy those grown in. say. New Zealand.
Whatever pleasure I derive in knowing that mange tout are
being raised without chemicals in Kenya. by the time they
have travelled the thousands of
miles to end up on our supermarket shelves. they will have lost any of the flavour- advantages I honestly believe that locally raised organic goods bring to the table. Equally problematic are giant agro-businesses. willing to set aside limited acreage for organic production. hedging their bets on consumer demand rather than showing any real devotion to organic principles. The bottom line is this: if we. as a society and a culture. hope to reduce the waste of resources and cut (‘02 emissions. we need to improve the use of the resources we have locally. For me that means not only attempting to buy
if ‘1. J 5“" v ‘k : F I. 0 o I predominantly organic goods but also purchasing local produce. such as at the farmer‘s markets or using a veg box
scheme. In addition. 1 supplement that with my own
TO coincide With the Organic Food Festival in GIasQOW, allotment. growing my own. I have the luxury of a garden
Barry Shelby reflects on the ‘good life, of home grown where space can be putaside for fruit and vegetables. but , many of us could apply for allotments.
organ'C prOduce- What you grow is limited by your imagination. devotion.
and the Scottish climate. which is more forgiving than most
SOIL ASSOCIATION ORGANIC FOOD FESTIVAL residents acknowledge. When I recently scanned my raised
. , beds. the last of the courgettes were straggling on amid the
withered vines of winter squashes. which have been
Sat 10am—6pm, Sun 10am—5pm. Admission 22 (Free to SA members and under 163) harvested and stored for later use. A tomatillo plant showed
“ no signs of giving up any flora ghost. Peas vines were pulled in late August. but the next crop in the rotation — growth rates of 15—20%, while the rest of the food industry has remained stagnant. curly kale — is just now getting into the knack of it. as is the set of purple sprouting broccoli. Globe artichokes. which
’2 lb Nov 12006 THE LIST 99
Interesting organic fact Since 1998 the organic food industry has posted annual