This article first appeared in our Organic September 2024 issue of My Green Pod Magazine. Click here to subscribe to our digital edition and get each issue delivered straight to your inbox
When I feel into the organic movement it always seems natural to me – it’s quite simply how things should be.
We are made of organic matter and therefore exist organically. The problem is that currently, most of what we eat, drink and breathe creates a toxicity in the body that contradicts the very essence of how living beings should thrive.
Pesticides, fertilisers, livestock feed additives and growth regulators are being ploughed into our soil and water systems – and therefore also our food. A simple way to deal with this is to eat organic whenever and wherever possible.
My wife and My Green Pod editor-in-chief Katie always talks about how easy supermarkets make it to buy organic food for babies; in many cases the majority of pouches and products in the aisle are certified organic.
But notice the contrast in the cereals aisle, the next you’ll visit as your child grows. The products here are packed with refined sugars, preservatives and colourings, with cartoons and branding designed to attract kids and make a health-conscious parent’s life hell (at least for the couple of minutes it takes to move on).
If we want to buy the best and healthiest – and that means organic – products for our babies, why don’t we demand the same when they get a few years older? And why don’t supermarkets provide as many cheap, own-brand organic products for kids as they do for babies?
The result is that organic is not financially accessible to everyone. In this context there are no hard and fast rules because compromise is inevitable, but I’d say that if you can afford the organic option, buy it.
Like everything, the more we buy the more accessible it will become to everyone; if we want a just and balanced world, let’s all do our bit and help democratise organic food by giving it as much support as we realistically can.
Remembering that we are nature, and therefore we are organic, can help to repair the separation from our natural state of being.
This can be achieved by committing to the following simple yet powerful actions or rituals.
Be out in nature each day; sit on the ground and allow yourself to reconnect with the Earth to stabilise you natural rhythm.
Remember that nature is our teacher; it has survived all moments in time so far, and will evolve without us if we can’t stop abusing her.
Nature is everywhere. It has provided every single material we use daily – including our food, phones, clothes, homes and transport. Could you thank nature every time you use her?
This might sound simple, but I believe nature and perhaps our universe is giving us an opportunity to evolve organically – it’s her way of telling us that if we all remember we are one, and that there is no separation, we can all come together to solve this mystery we call the climate crisis.
I believe this will need to start with an offer of gratitude and appreciation for everything we have, have taken and will take in the future.
UK ORGANIC explores the different motivations behind organic shopping.
Britain’s largest organic brand shares ways anyone can make the most of Organic September.
For Mark Machin, development manager at Soil Association Certification, you are the champion this Organic September.
Jarvis Smith believes we need to look beyond the easy options and listen to Mother Nature instead.
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