Article: Eat In Image: as nature intended

And if some of them are less than perfectly shaped or coloured, out they go - the irregular ones have to dumped of fed to the farmer's pigs. It's a harsh world, and if more people pictured the real origins of fresh veggies as they stood before the supermarket shelves, there'd surely be a much bigger market for organic produce.

As it is, the purists who go out of their way to find farm stalls and support the minuscule organic section of supermarkets are a very small but passionate minority. They have to be, to root out the real thing in a world only too ready to make a quicker buck. "What's organic? That's the question," says Ramona Meiburg of Funky Greens, who grows organic herbs and lettuces on her Hout Bay, Cape Town smallholding.

She asks that question because she knows just how complex organic cultivation is. " A farmer can't just decide to convert. His soil might be permeated with chemicals from earlier, non-organic cultivation and his air and water is likely to be tainted by the carry-over of chemicals from neighbouring farms. Pests don't honour boundaries either, by going cold turkey on chemical crop sprays and attracting more bugs, he risks serious conflict with his neighbours. "

'Organic' certification recognises four phases:
Phase one: When chemical insecticides and fertilisers are withdrawn, through to phase four, when seeds, soil, water and air are chemical-free. Under normal circumstances it takes at least four years to complete the conversion. Not only does production drop in the process, but labour costs increase , since pets have to be removed by hand.

"With constraints like these, a total reform of farming is pie in the sky," says Ramona. But any shift in focus is better than none, she feels, and even a small proportion of organic food is worth the extra expense and diet and effort. "Whether you do it all the way, or whether you do it just a little bit, I think we've all realised what the benefits are," she says. "Just bite into something organic and then compare it one that's chemically produced and contolled…they are worlds apart.

"Can you remember the smell of a real tomato? The taste sends you back to your childhood. If organic isn't worth it for anything else, it's worth it for the taste." Rudolph Steiner, the philosopher and theologian who founded the Waldorf school system and pioneered the organic movement, believed that poor nutrition prevents people from thinking for themselves.

In the five years she's been involved with organics, Ramona says awareness has grown dramatically, and demand with it, but it's still not enough to demand a consistent supply. Organic fruit and vegetables are by nature seasonal, in a market that has become used to being offered everything avocados to berries all year round. With organics as with nature, it's feast or famine: a bumper crop of something one week, none the next.

But planning meals according to what's available reconnects us to the cycle of life. Not to mention the realities of the food chain, which we tend to forget. "If someone phoned me and accused me of sending her a lettuce with a worm in it , I'd say "Good- now you know it's grown naturally!" laughs Ramona.

"Raising vegetables on chemicals is like putting them on a drip," she says. "While you're on the drip you look fabulous, but as soon as you're taken off it, you collapse." But Ramona is resigned to the future of organic produce developing in communities, rather than at supermarket level. That will be when it has progressed from a fad to a way of life and people have their own little gardens at home.

"Look at how much we waste. We're spoilt: we won't use the lettuce that looks a little past it's prime ; we'll get another one that looks fresher. And we eat so much more than necessary. Once you know what energy it takes to grow a bunch of spinach, and what care goes into it, you will only use what is enough to feed yourself for that day."

What is Organic?
A product earns the label "organic" if, from conception of the seed to distribution of the fully grown product, it has been entirely free of artificial processes and chemical compounds.

Grow organic at home
Of course you don't have to depend on shops for all your organic produce. As long as you have a flowerbed - or even a window box or two- you can grow your own. The key is to avoid all chemical composts, fertilisers and pesticides. Kelp is an ideal organic fertiliser and you can buy it, among other organic alternatives, at all good nurseries.

You can make your own compost
The principle of putting back into the soil, instead of just taking out, is very satisfying. Save your vegetable waste for the compost heap and every now and again add a layer of mulch (sticks and leaves) and organic compost to the heap.

Other tips
To discourage snails and other pests, plant chives, garlic and calendula among your veggies. And to distract snails, plant nasturtiums elsewhere in the garden, so they'll eat those instead of your lettuces. Weed your garden regularly, so weeds don't get a chance to seed themselves. Seed takes seven years to work it's way out of the system once it's there!