 Today’s discerning diners want to enjoy a meal that has been prepared using only carefully sourced, quality, ingredients, including local organically grown produce. They are demanding nothing but the best. Dishes that merely look good and taste good are no longer good enough.
According to a recent report on food and drink trends, “The demand for healthier and organic food has made its mark on London menus, and in terms of diversity and the range of cuisines on the Londoner's doorsteps, the city is doing exceptionally well, bettering Paris and even rivalling New York”. Further, in recent years there has a been a distinct shift in emphasis away from menus flourishing imaginative descriptions of their food and wines to something rather more factual and frankly more appealing to the modern, well-informed consumer.
Only a few years ago, however, the demand for organic produce was in its infancy. Nowadays, awareness of the arguments in favour of consuming organically grown produce is widespread.
The Organic Products Europe and Natural Products Europe exhibitions, on April 4th and 5th 2004, at the Grand Hall at Olympia, are a perfect illustration of consumer awareness and the increasing demand for organic produce. Now into its eighth year, the event promises to be the biggest and best yet, with a vast range of new products on display.
Yet, despite the recent challenges made by Professor John Krebs, chairman of the FSA, that “Organics is a con”, the body of evidence regarding the benefits of opting for organic food continues to gather momentum. Daily consumption of organic produce is increasingly being viewed as a necessity rather than a luxury.
Evidence is also mounting that modern, non-organic farming methods pose a real threat to our health. Dr Vyvyan Howard, foetal and infant toxicologist, at Liverpool University, for example, points out that over 200 new chemicals have been introduced over the past fifty years or so, many of them potentially dangerous. Worryingly, research has also revealed that while we retain residues of these chemicals in our bodies we have, nevertheless, been unable to develop a disposal mechanism for many of these new toxins. Although organic farming also involves the use of certain pesticides, the health risks are considerably lower.
Wines, it would appear, are also going organic. A number of major wine producers, worldwide, have identified this growing niche-market for organically produced wines; so too have wine retailers, restaurateurs and the catering industry in general. In fact, until very recently, organic wines were something of a rarity on even the most comprehensive of restaurant wine lists; today they are commonplace.
Statistics published in the Soil Association's organic food and farming annual report, (an annual publication that tracks the organic market) showed that sales and consumption of organic wines in the UK rocketed by around 41 % in 2003, as an expanding sector of a one billion pound market for organic produce. To put these figures into perspective, the overall organic market grew by a respectable 10 %, whereas the organic wine market grew more than four times faster, during the same period.
So, what’s so special about organically grown grapes and wines produced by vineyards using organic production methods? For a start, even the untrained palate can taste the difference; there is a freshness and clarity about quality organic wines. There is also a distinct absence of that heavy, chemical aftertaste so often associated with mass-produced wines at the cheaper end of the market. This is largely due to organic wine producing regulations that prohibit the use of certain chemicals in pesticides, fertilisers and weed killers. Another important factor is that organic wines contain around 30 % less sulphur dioxide (the preservative used in the vast majority of conventionally produced wines). Inevitably, however, organic wine production is a labour-intensive and costly procedure; but this is a competitive market and retail prices tend to be pegged accordingly, with most organic wines offering exceptional value for money.
But, to return to the dinner table, and the modern day diners’ interest in all things organic…
Patrick Holden, Director of the Soil Association, is confident that "The future for organic food is potentially very bright."
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