Organic Portal Launch

My Organic Portal Website was Launched on the 17th February 2007.

The free web portal that helps you to find Organic Food & Produce in the UK, here you will find information about all things Organic - Supplier Directory, News, Articles, Calendar of Events and Links.

Website is  http://www.organicportal.co.uk

Pepe Holiday in Brittany

Pepe has just completed his second holiday in Brittany this year.

We travelled via M1, M69, Coventry and Warwick, M40, A34 and stopped overnight at Travelodge Alton Four Marks

Then South to Portchester Castle and then onto Portsmouth for the fast cat ferry to Cherbourg, overnight was at the Campanile Cherbourg. Then next day South from Cherbourg, stopped at Dol de Bretagne for lunch, arrived at Perros etc

During our holiday we visited Tregastel, Perros Guirec, Lannion, Ploumanach, Tréguier, Port Blanc, Sillon de Talbert, Paimpol, Ile Renote, Plestin les Grèves marché, Locquirec and Jugon les Lacs.

Pepe goes on Holiday

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That famous dog is soon going on his holidays again.

He loves the Normandy and Breton food, and also the wonderful beachs.

Pepe dog update

Pepe our Manchester terrier cross dog was injured yesterday, he had broken his dew claw and it needed to be removed and he was given injections for painkiller and antiobotic treatments.


He was somewhat subdued yesterday, but thankfully over today he has reverted to his usual self,

Forest Garden Organics Web Presence

After only a week, Forest Garden Organics has been picked up by Google on the Organic Supermarket Site.

Pepe in the Wars

Our dog Pepe has injured himself this morning. We noticed that he was licking the inside of his front left paw and on inspection saw that the dewclaw was broken. In fact it was sticking out at 90 degrees from his paw.

Fortunately we are only 5 minutes from our vets, Abbey Vets, Barnsley, who are open 24 hours even on Bank Holiday Sundays. Within 5 minutes we were in with the vet and Pepe was getting the treatment and injections required.

He has been a bit subdued for most of the day, but he wolfed down his tea and then perked up, and has just completed a mile walk without any problem.

Forest Garden Organics

Welcome to Forest Garden

Forest Garden offers home delivery of fresh, organic fruit and vegetables to customers in Barnsley, Rotherham and surrounding areas of South Yorkshire. A range of organic groceries is also available. Delivery is FREE.

Our suppliers are Certified Organic with the Soil Association and supply Organic Food that complies with EC Regulations 2092/91.

Our customers have a variety of reasons for choosing organic food. Here are some of them:
* Organically farmed landscapes have been shown to be richer in wildlife than those farmed by "conventional" means. This is largely due to the intensive use of artificial fertilisers and pesticides on conventional arable farms.
* Pesticide residues (on fruit & veg), hormone and antibiotic residues (in meat) together with chemicals used to prolong shelf-life may have negative implications for human health. This risk does not exist with organic food.
* Organically raised plants and animals grow more slowly than their non-organic counterparts and take longer to mature. Because of this, organic food is generally considered to have a superior texture and/or richer taste.

The website, http://www.forestgardenorganics.co.uk, can be used to browse through our product range and place orders.

Enquiries and orders can also be made by telephone on 01226 290531.

We are now stocking TreacleMoon Breads

Waitrose relaunches organics

Waitrose relaunches organics

Waitrose is relaunching its organic range next month to coincide with Organic Fortnight, 2-17 September.

Waitrose has a 16% of all organic grocery sales despite holding under 4% of the total UK grocery market.

The new range includes about 1,500 products including fresh foods, ready-made meals and snacks.

Waitrose says it aims to source most of its organic produce from within the UK, demonstrating its commitment to its suppliers, and to offering good quality British food. All of its fresh organic beef, pork and chicken comes from the UK, for example, with organic lamb entirely sourced in Britain, when in season. In addition, 60% of Waitrose’s organic vegetables are grown in Britain.

Sales of organic fruit and veg now account for 12% of total fresh produce, compared to 1% when the supermarket first introduced organics in 1983.

Waitrose local and regional buyer, Graham Cassie, said: “Overall, a large proportion of our organic meat and vegetables are sourced in the UK, underlining our commitment to British farming, animal welfare and British wildlife. Our customers want the best produce available and, wherever possible, they want us to source from Britain.

“The fact that consumer demand for organic has risen considerably shows how important buying organic has become. From staple to unique, we are responding to this demand by offering our customers a whole host of organic foods.”

from Checkout Magazine web site

Couple deliver a fresh idea

Aug 1 2006
By Evening Gazette, Teeside

A Stockton-based organic food delivery service is booming thanks to growing demand for locally-sourced produce.

Boxfresh Organics, which is run by husband and wife team Andy and Jennie Johnston, offers customers fresh organic fruit and vegetables sourced, wherever possible, from producers in the North-east and Yorkshire.

The service was started in 2004 after Andy was inspired to copy a friend's successful organic produce delivery service in Shropshire.

"Our friend had built up quite a business after five years and wondered whether a similar scheme would work on Teesside," said Jennie Johnston.

"So we decided to give it a try. After securing a local supplier we set about marketing, and within a couple of weeks had 13 customers. We now have about 80."

All produce is sourced through the Organic Pantry in Thirsk, with seasonal variations such as turkey and other organic meats also on the menu.

"We try to meet customer requirements, so if someone specifically asks for something we'll try to get it for them," adds Jennie.

The business currently offers an extra income into the Johnston household, but Jennie, a registered child minder, is keen to further develop the business.

"People definitely like to know that what they are buying is good food and local," she said.

According to research by Mintel, sales of organic food has doubled in the last five years and will reach £2bn by 2010.

There are 4,000 organic farms in the UK - 4pc of total farmland, and the UK is the third biggest producer of organic produce next to Italy and Germany.

Yorkshire locals benefit from organic egg traceability

Organic eggs are becoming increasingly popular with Yorkshire consumers who, like the rest of the UK, are more concerned than ever about the origins of their food.

Eighty per cent of consumers believe it is important to know where food comes from, according to Farming UK, and seven out of ten consumers now purchase organic produce for either environmental or food safety reasons.

Brontebrown organic eggs, which are produced and marketed by Chippindale Foods, are now readily available across Yorkshire, with Morrisons and Booths both stocking the increasingly popular products.

The eggs are produced using traditional organic methods and consumers can log onto a website and determine exactly which farm an individual egg has come from.

Nick Chippindale, of Chippindale Foods, explained: "Consumers can now see for themselves, from the comfort of their own home, the actual farm where their individual eggs were laid.

"There's even the opportunity to ask questions of the farmer, see delicious Yorkshire recipes and even to find out the chickens' current weather conditions," he told Farming UK.

The eggs are all produced on local, Yorkshire farms, enabling traceability and helping to minimise food miles.

As Published on the The Food & Drink Innovation Network

Organic Box Schemes

SUPERMARKETS LAUNCH ORGANIC BOX SCHEMES
As reported on the 'This is Devon Website'
11:00 - 02 August 2006

Organic farmers will lose the niche market in delivering boxes of fresh fruit and vegetables to people's doors as supermarkets plan to muscle in on their success. The organic sector is the fastest growing in the food industry - sales have increased by 30 per cent each year.

Farmers in the Westcountry were the first to introduce the organic box scheme, which delivers fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables direct to customers every week.

Now supermarket giants Tesco and Sainsbury are introducing their own organic box schemes.

Robin Maynard from the Soil Association, the organic food industry's governing body, said yesterday: "The Soil Association welcomes anything that increases people's awareness of local, seasonal organic food.

"But if it is based on the same old distribution networks which are trucking food across the country, generating carbon footprints and damaging the environment, it undermines the whole principle of supporting your local organic farmers."

Riverford Farm, near Totnes, is one of the largest organic farms in the Westcountry, delivering fresh produce to their customers' doors. Each week they distribute around 30,000 boxes.

Spokesman Philip White said that this was not the first time the supermarkets had tried to introduce the organic box scheme. But he said that this time they had done far more research. He said: "The supermarkets have been focusing on the massive growth of the organic market and they want a piece of it.

"It's a double-edged sword. The increased emphasis on the organic market by supermarkets could be a good thing in bringing it to the attention of the wider population. But the box scheme was one of the few niche markets in the food industry that farmers effectively had some degree of control in, which might be lost."

Over the next few weeks both Tesco and Sainsbury will launch their online organic box schemes. Both supermarkets are initially launching pilot schemes, Tesco focusing on South London and Sainsbury offering it to customers in East Midlands and East Anglia.

Tesco say the bulk of the produce will come from four main suppliers in East Anglia, but they say they will also try to find organic producers in other areas of the country.

Sainsbury's say that its produce will be sourced from UK organic farms and the boxes will be sent from a central Cambridgeshire distribution centre.

They are also finding out how the UK could produce more exotic vegetables such as aubergines and chillies.

Ben Moseley, from Rod and Bens organic farm near Exeter, thinks people choose their local organic box scheme for many different reasons. He doesn't think the farm will be threatened by the supermarkets' organic box schemes.

He said: "I'm certainly not quaking in my boots. We are a small mixed farm and we know a lot of our customers personally.

"Supermarket box schemes and local box schemes are almost incomparable. People come to the farm and see how things are grown.

"We are confident in what we do and how we operate and we have a very loyal customer base."

Sainsbury's are introducing their organic box schemes at the end of August priced at £15 and Tesco in early September at £11.

Mr Maynard is concerned that the supermarket giants may force prices down, putting pressure on smaller organic farms to compete.

He said: "This movement shows how successful the local grass roots scheme has been. But we are keeping an eyebrow cocked. Are they going to treat their suppliers fairly or are they going to price cut?"

Organic Food Supplies

South Yorkshire is such an organic food desert.

We have to arrange trips to stock up on organic produce.

So, we are pleased that a good friend of ours has decided to deliver weekly organic vegetable boxes, fruit boxes and groceries etc.

Details from Forest Garden Organics