What do our different signs in the shop mean when it comes to fruit & Vegetables? It has
been super evident over the last few years that consumers have become a lot more
interested in where their food comes from, what processes are involved in getting it to our
plates and what has been sprayed on them. With the international interests and general
opposition to products like Glysophate more and more people are choosing to eat organic. I
am going to explain today some of the finer points of signage, and what you can expect
from our products, and what it means to be organic.

In the UK, there are two main categories of fruit & Vegetables, those are Organic and Non-
Organic. But what does Organic REALLY mean? A lot more goes in to organic than might
meet the eye, the certification process can in some cases take a minimum of 3 years and is
not only a huge financial investment by the farm but a huge time investment as well.
Generally speaking if a product is certified organic then it has been produced using no
herbicides, pesticides or non-organic fertilisers, and the most important part of that for
many people is that means no glysophate.

When products in our shop are organic they will have, a sign stating that they are “organic”,
we will often put a green dot on our labels as well. We don’t solely stock organic produce so
it is important that if you are interested in buying organic that you read the labels. There are
many consumers out there for whom buying organic isn’t a priority and we have to try and
please as many people as possible.

Non-Organic products don’t automatically mean they come from a very intensively
managed farm sprayed to within an inch of their lives with pesticides and herbicides, it
simply means that they haven’t sought to become organic certified. In many instances
farmers actively seek to avoid spraying this is because it costs a lot of money to spray your
crops and if you don’t have to then, why would you? To ensure that you are eating really
natural products the best way to do it is by buying only organic fruit and veg.

Our own fruit and vegetables fall in to a third category which we call “Natural” only a few
products in our shop are classed as natural and this doesn’t hold any weight beyond the
doors of the shop or the website. We produce all our fruit and veg without spraying any
chemicals whatsoever on them. Our own compost is produced from food waste and waste
from the garden and our dovecot (pigeon poop) as well as seaweed from East Lothian
beaches.

At the moment, we don’t produce enough fruit and vegetables to really warrant
going through the entire process of becoming organic certified but as we continue to grow
and expand the likely hood will increase that we get certified. The only thing that goes on
our garden is water and our all natural compost, so arguably our fruit & veg is of a higher
environmental standard than many organic certified farms.

So, if your interest has been perked by anything that I’ve written today drop me comment
below or by commenting on Facebook or Instagram. Perhaps you might be brave enough to
try our veg boxes which can be delivered locally in East Lothian or Picked up from our shop.