Why buy Organic food? Sure we have all heard that it tastes better than ordinary food or that it is better for you, but do you really believe that? I have been eating Organic food for years (for reasons I will come onto in a second) but I have no romantic love for tiny spuds of funny shaped tomotoes. The believe in the 'goodness' of Organic food is just another childish folly of modern society that has nothing better to do than shop. The Supermarkets only stock that stuff because it is another 'niche' market for them and they don't want to lose business to the Box Schemes. Society has this romatic ideal about food that is just another lifestyle tick-in-the-box. A fantasy that has nothing to do with the grim reality of how food reaches our plates.

Let's face it. This is the grim reality, there are two reasons to buy Organic food: ONE) it is more expensive so it stops you wasting money on luxuries you will have to learn to do without anyway, TWO) it puts money into Farming-without-Fossil-Fuels. That is where the money should be going. Why subsidise unsustainable Business Practices? Fossil-Fuel Food has no future because Oil doesn't. Therefore it is an investment - a form of capital expenditure. Well maintained soil soaks up CO2. Badly maintained soil, poisoned by Pesticides, Fertilisers and other wonders of the Petrochemical Age, is just a sponge for the Oil-Base products used to grow our food. It is, otherwise, dead matter and it pumps CO2 into the Atmosphere. Therefore we need to invest in our topsoil and the human-capital of knowledge about how to grow food sustainably.

Should we by cynical? Yes and no. Organic Food is not necessarily grown to Permaculture standards. It is manufactured in the same Fossil-Fuel Economy as Oil-based Food. Therefore it may not always have sustainable credentials. Organic Farming only uses 26% less energy than Oil alternative. Remember that regular Fossil-Fuel Food has burnt ten calories of oil for you to consume one calorie of food energy. Therefore 26% isn't sustainable. Think about it, it would have to use nearer 90% less for it to be sustainable. Growing crops organically in mainland Europe and shipping them all the way to the UK still uses less energy than trying to grow them organically in the UK. False-thinking. You ship them? Wake up people! Oh, the wonders of cheap oil! Suddenly transport has no cost. Wow. Figure that one out.

However, it is a step in the right direction.