Organic Fortnight

From 1—16 September is Organic Fortnight, during which the Soil Association is encouraging us all to celebrate everything organic. Events are taking place to promote organic products up and down the country. This year it is calling on the nation to “wake up to an organic breakfast”. Retailers, brands and restaurants across the UK taking part are promoting organic breakfast items, with the aim of encouraging everyone to try an organic breakfast during the fortnight whether at home, work or out and about.

There are lots of reasons to eat organic. Here are just a few of them. Organic foods…

• Are healthier. They have been shown to contain higher levels of vitamins and minerals. For example, scientists have found that organic milk has more vitamin E and beta-carotene, as well as nearly 70 per cent more omega 3 (an essential fatty acid needed for several bodily functions) than its non-organic counterpart.
• Contain no additives. Those allowed in non-organic food include hydrogenated fat, aspartame or artificial colours or flavours, pesticides and GM ingredients.
• Taste better. A recent consumer poll carried out by the Soil Association has revealed that taste is a significant factor in people's decision to go organic. Fruit and vegetable score particularly highly on taste, with 72 per cent saying they taste better than non-organic, while meat also scores highly with 71 per cent.
• Are better for wildlife. Organic farms are nicer environments to be in, because of the thriving wildlife.
• Are better for the environment. They produce lower pollution from sprays, less carbon dioxide and dangerous wastes.

To find a delicious organic breakfast near you or to find out how you can get involved visit: www.soilassociation.org

Jordans Cereals, which is sponsoring Organic Fortnight, sent us some of its organic cereals to try. We thought it only right to let you know how they fared with our own tasting panel.

Organic Granola
A couple of the panel found the Organic Granola a bit too sweet (for those watching their waist, this cereal contains raw sugar) while comments from the “kidults” among us were “delicious” and “lovely”. A nice balance of fruit, nuts and toasted granola.
Rating: 4/5

Organic Fruit and Fibre
Not your ordinary fruit and fibre, this contains loads of fruit, nuts and seeds including cashew nuts, hazelnuts, almonds, Brazil nuts and pumpkin seeds. Panellists who thought the Granola was too sweet thought this cereal “tastes as cereal should”—although it does still contain sugar, which is perhaps not necessary given its high fruit content. Comments included “lots of texture”, “wholesome” and “tastes healthy”.
Rating: 3/5

Organic Muesli
Again, this is a luxurious muesli containing a mix of vine fruits, coconut chips, roasted hazelnuts and sunflower seeds. It was a bit too fruity for some, while one panellist described it as “perfect”. It contains no sugar, which got a big tick from the nutritionist on the panel.
Rating: 3/5

Organic Porridge
Lovely big oats that produced a deliciously creamy porridge with a great nutty texture. Even those not keen on porridge agreed this tasted good.
Rating: 4/5

www.jordansorganic.co.uk