My friend read an eye-opening book called,

"Organic Living in 10 Simple Lessons" by Karen Sullivan.
She didn't have to tell me much for me to want to give it a go. I started purchasing organic food which is quite expensive. Then after a few weeks, a new friend of mine, told me her husband was a buyer of fruit and veg (non-organic) and I could buy $50 worth for only $20. Well I thought I would see if I could notice the difference. For a few weeks I had this non-organic fruit and veg. It looked big and colourful and perfect ... but I had to chuck quite a bit a way. I would see a beautiful plum or peach and bite into it and ... yuck .. no flavour.

Finally my friend lent me this book and now I am convinced with the facts. Too many to post here, but I will quote some.

"In 1995 the British Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) issued a health warning on carrots, advising the public to peel them before eating, due to the possibility of pesticide poisoning. The US Environmental Protection Agency proved that, of several pesticides evaluated, 92 were capable of producing cancer in laboratory animals.

Woman with higher concentrations of certain pesticides in their bodies run a greater risk of developing breast cancer

There are 3,900 brands or insecticide, herbicide and fungicide approved for the use in the UK, and some fruit and vegetables are sprayed as many as 10 times before reaching supermarket shelves..... a 1998 study showed that nine out of ten children aged between six months and five years are exposed to combinations of 13 different neurotoxic organophosphate pesticides in their food, and one million of those children consume unsafe levels of organophosphates, which have been shown to cause long-term damage to the developing brain and nervous system.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has estimated that between 3.5 and 5 million people globally suffer from acute pesticide poisoning every year.

As organic fruit and veg is ripened on the vine it has more nutrients etc and is healthier anyway.

Did anyone here on the news recently and in some newspapers that Woolworths etc store some fruit and veg frozen upto 12months! Once defrosted this should be consumed within a couple of days, but how long does it sit in the shops first? Nõt good!

By the way Coles does have quite a few organic products (in the health isle usually - green packaging), like organic wheat bix, sugar, tea, canned food, 100% juices. You can get organic food delivered, look in your yellow pages or on the web. Be aware the prices are much higher. After growing some veges myself, I can see the prices are realistic for the effort and time to grow them.

Happy research and healthy eating!

P.S. Please add your comments too...

Lisa