Organic versus Local

On Friday my supermarket delivery order didn’t arrive because of the snow. I had planned to make a gluten-free & dairy-free Christmas Pudding and also I had people coming to stay for the weekend and I needed food for Zoe’s tea, too. I dashed to the local shops, trying to find supplies. I live in Dulwich in London, in a very residential part with very few food shops, so I had very little choice (especially as the shelves were fairly empty because of the weather.) And it made me realise how much I have come to depend on food being delivered to me so that I can get organic food. I get a regular delivery from an online supermarket and also a delivery from the brilliant Devon farm, Riverford. My local butcher doesn’t stock organic meat – at all – and neither does the charming-looking vegetable stall or the newly-opened, very smart, local bakery. I would love to support these businesses, rather than order online from a supermarket but, for me, it’s more important to feed my family organic food. I don’t want us to be ingesting pesticides, herbicides and fungicides; or antibiotics and growth hormones. I want us to enjoy healthy plants and healthy animals that have grown or been reared on healthy soil – and reap the benefits the higher levels of nutrients, especially antioxidants and omega-3. So I’ve postponed plans to make the Christmas pudding until the new delivery (complete with organic sultanas, raisins, currants, dried mangoes and almonds) arrives…