Sidelines

So last week, after inadvertently buying some of those dreadful tasteless apples and wondering (as usual) where the local varieties have gone, I contacted the Soil Association in Bristol. A wad of papers and paperwork arrived, among them a green (naturally) piece of paper purporting to answer 'some common questions'. Unfortunately, they state 'the best reason for buying organic food is that it tastes extremely good'. But it often doesn't! Recently, my daughter and I went touring for a weekend. On Saturday we had lunch in a country pub overlooking a river sporting swans and rowing boats. We had some marvellous non-organic baked potatoes, smothered in an amazing 'Mediterranean' sauce, with a plateful of really scrumptious vegetables; we paid £5 per potato. The following day, we had lunch in an organic cafe; baked potatoes again, this time ungarnished, unsauced and fairly uninteresting, with a few lettuce leaves to accompany them. They cost £7 a potato! My daughter commented 'it's no wonder people don't buy organic!' Organic meat and bread may often taste better, but many products don't taste any different, or taste worse. Supermarket organic apples seem to taste as bland as the rest; organic scones don't taste as nice as from the local baker's; and I far prefer a well known brand of digestive biscuits to the slightly sawdust organic variety. It's such a shame... Still, when it comes to apples, I'll soon be able to pick my own organic Discovery apples from my own trees! Whoopee!