Eat Ethically Why organic food is getting cheaper

Organic v non organic cook-off

Date Published:

09/09/2008

Charlie Cottrell finds out why the credit crunch could mean organic produce is more affordable than ever

Organic food has come a long way since the early days, when it was considered the faffy fare of worthy sloanes and cardigan wearing hippies. Back in the day, choosing organic food meant steeling yourself for one heck of a steep shopping bill, but thanks to the budget-be-damned resilience of the organic buying pioneers and increased interest in the provenance of our food, prices of organic produce have dropped and the value of the organic market risen from a relatively tiny £260 million in 1997 to nearly £2 billion in 2007.

Lamb-tastic

For fans of organic food, the news gets better. While the credit crunch is affecting all our shopping baskets, the increase on organic produce has been less steep than on non organic options and, in some cases, organic food is now cheaper than the non organic varieties.

Organic lamb - the cheaper cut

"The gap has absolutely closed," says Duncan Gibson, MD of Abel and Cole, "our leg of organic lamb is now cheaper than non organic in the supermarkets and other products, like milk and butter are comparable."

The planet and organic

Our increasing environmental concerns are making organic prices even more competitive. "Organic farming uses a lot less oil than non organic farming," says Duncan. "The oil price increases have taken the cost of conventional food up faster, making organic options increasingly good value. It's a surprise to me that some journalists are telling people they can't afford organic in the credit crunch because it seems illogical to encourage shoppers to go back to food that uses much more oil."

Growing public interest in environmental issues, animal welfare and supporting British farmers has made organic a more popular option and, as the market increases, the production of organic food becomes more cost efficient and prices continue to fall.

Milk money

Meanwhile, according to Duncan, supermarket practices for keeping standard food prices artificially low are starting to fail, translating to a price hike for non organic shoppers.

"Milk has been sold below cost for years," he says. "In the last ten years 50 per cent of British dairy farmers have gone bankrupt because of supermarket pricing. When public awareness rose to the point of embarrassment, the price per litre to the farmer jumped up from 19p to 28p a litre."

The cost of living may be increasing, but it seems there's never been a better time to go organic.

See how these cost changes translate to your shopping basket, with our organic v non-organic cook-off.

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