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I consider myself an ethical shopper. I endeavour where practical to choose food products that are raised in a considerate and compassionate way, with a concern for the long term sustainability of the product and our environment. This includes local producers (at Glasgow’s Farmers markets), supermarket badged UK Organic produce, or Free range. I’m fortunate that I have money to spare for this choice (although I don’t feel that it’s that much more expensive than many people seem to think), but appreciate that it’s not for everybody. I also like to think that by increasing the demand for such products, prices will start to come more in line with non-organic food, and it will become a more realistic choice for others with more constrained budgets.

I didn’t see all of the recent Horizon programme on ’super foods’, the little I caught it seemed to contain reference to a view being (rightly) dismissed that Organic food is somehow ‘better for you’. Seems strange, but I choose Organic because of what it means to the animals and environment, not to my health. I can do plenty more for my health by cutting out a bit more of the salt, sugar and alcohol I enjoy, in moderation, than eating exclusively organic food.

I’m undecided on taste when it comes to Organic vegetables. I certainly feel that Organic meat, which are more usually free range, non-intensive breeds are tastier (particularly chicken and turkey, which can be horribly intensively raised) if cooked considerately.

But I digress. I do not buy two classes of Organic produce. One is the air-freight variety. Grown in Kenya, Israel or Thailand, or some other reach of the world, and badged Organic, and then stuck in a 747 and flown at great expense across the world to salve my conscience. No thanks. I’d rather buy more local produce that isn’t Organic, than such ‘Organic’.

I also draw the line with the second: Organic Mushrooms. Mushrooms, other than the ones sold in posh delicatessens having been collected in the wild, are almost exclusively grown in artificial, commercially huge sheds (see here), and from what I understand of the process, don’t understand how you can brand mushrooms as Organic. Water, soil, and, er, a large warehouse to grow them in. My reason for choosing Organic pertains to the impact the process has on the land, and commercial mushrooms don’t impact, as far as I understand it, in anything like the same way as growing vegetables. You could perhaps argue that there may be fewer pesticides or fertilisers being used with mushrooms, or a slower growth process, but it just doesn’t feel in the same class of choice as a farmer making a decision to grow his vegetables organically, and going through the long and difficult Organic certification process. Plus, frankly, most ‘button’ or ‘chestnut’ mushrooms in supermarkets are bland and largely tasteless, organic or not.

There is a minefield of choice for the considerate shopper. The process of doing our weekly shop has become politicised, and ‘organic’ and ‘free range’ are becoming a new type of ‘brand’ in themselves. Hopefully the end result will be a more informed public with more information and accurate labelling, enabling them to make genuine and informed choices, that suit every wallet and conscience.

I know roughly where I fall. Do you?