I have argued long and hard for the flexibility of the biological approach overorganics. I have suggested that organics is largely about what you can’t do, while biological farming is all about what you should be doing to achieve nutrient dense, flavoursome food. However, it is a simple fact that depending upon your marketing skills, the organic produce will usually return a higher premium. It is often worth jumping through some extra hoops to access this premium. There is also the issue that organic certification offers the only ironclad certainty that the food you are buying is completely free from chemicals.

Recent research published in this month’s issue of “The Townsend Letter For Doctors”, a highly reputed industry journal, adds extra impetus to the need to be chemical-free. This research covers the effects of farm pesticides on the intellectual development of children. There is now compelling evidence linking exposure to organophosphate pesticides to significantly lower IQ in children and this also applies to low level prenatal exposure. This exposure can lead to lasting metabolic disruption in children. In newborns this exposure is related to an increased number of abnormal reflexes but in adolescents the effects manifest as emotional and mental problems.