So, why
buy local?
Well there are numerous economic, environmental
and social reasons why we always prefer to stock local products.
Primarily, it helps to support food producers in the local region,
keeping the money that we spend within the community, thus sustaining
local businesses and creating jobs. Local produce has traveled less
distance to reach us, which helps to reduce the substantial environmental
pollution generated by the transportation of food. Locally produced
food can also be fresher and more nutritious, as the time taken
to store, and transport it is minimised. Also, we feel that it's
just nice to know where our food has come from. We know our suppliers
and their practices and trust the quality and consistency of their
produce. It gives us a greater connection to the source of the goods
that we offer to you.
Why eat seasonal produce?
The contents of the organic fruit and veg boxes
will always tend to follow seasonal availability. This has a number
of benefits. Primarily, it allows you to enjoy produce when its
at its peak. In addition, we're back to the food miles argument,
where to consume a punnet of strawberries in December, these will
have been shipped half way round the world to get to reach the supermarket
shelves. It's environmentally beneficial to eat food that's produced
closer to home. Also, we at Wild Star remember the days when we
used to look forwards to the summer English strawberry crop, late
spring asparagus and satsumas at Christmas - call us nostalgic but
we still enjoy having seasonal treats to look forwards to and to
savour!
What's the definition of organic
produce and is it really any better for us?
The term organic is defined by law and producers
and manufacturers have to be registered with one of the approved
certification bodies. Any food labeled organic must meet a
strict set of standards.
Each certification body in the UK is given a UK code. The certification
bodies and UK codes for the produce in Wild Star boxes are listed
below:
- Soil Association Certification (SA) - UK5
- Organic Farmers and Growers Ltd (OF&G)
-UK2
- The organic Food Federation (OFF) - UK4
- Demeter (BDAA) - UK6
- Organic Trust Ltd - UK9
- CMi VCertification - UK10
Although we will always favour UK produce and
select UK produced goods where there is a choice, inevitably, outside
of the Food Miles box, produce does have to be sourced from outside
of the UK. Within the European Union, each EU member state has its
own national organic certifying authority which applies equivalent
standards and procedures to those in the UK. Food imported from
outside of Europe into the EU is subject to similar rigorous checks
and standards. All of our imports are purchased via experienced
organic wholesale specialists based in the UK.
To find out more about organic production and
organic certification, we recommend taking a look at the soil association
website: www.soilassociation.org
Organic agriculture is based on farming principles
that ensure a safe, sustainable farming system, producing excellent
crops and livestock without damaging the environment. It avoids
the use of pesticides and artificial chemical fertalisers on the
land, relying instead on developing healthy, fertile soils and growing
a mixture of crops.
There's still a lot of debate and conflicting
evidence regarding if organic food is actually any healthier than
non-organic food. Over 400 chemical pesticides are routinely used
in non-organic farming and their residues are traceable in the food
sold to us. So called 'acceptable levels' are calculated for each
of these chemicals but long-term effects of these compounds are
still relatively unknown.
Research has also shown that higher levels of
some nutrients are present in organic foods. These include vitamin
C, minerals such as calcium and magnesium and iron along with cancer-fighting
antioxidants.
Our view is if we can offer you organic we will
and in some cases, particularly with dried fruit and grains etc.
it's not even any more expensive, so there's no reason for us not
to! |
