Organic food is terribly expensive but for good reason – the soil has to be certified organic before the farmer can even start – and that takes considerable time and effort, then there are very strict guidelines for animals and plants – old ways are unacceptable and chemical fertilizers taboo with any pesticides use severely restricted. On top of that all animals are free range, their food completely controlled and their living conditions constantly checked on. The whole process takes a long time but at the end of the day, we can taste it and to chef and consumer alike, that’s what counts.

That fact that it’s healthier is an added bonus … but is it healthier?  Yesterday researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine announced that the world has been mistaken and that the organic food consumer was  simply contributing to a global organic market worth billions and probably paying too much for food! I’m not too convinced that we are paying too much, though, because there was one aspect not mentioned in the report (and I include the excerpt from the article below) – and that was the matter of taste.  I don’t care that 162 scientific papers on the subject were published over the past 50 years and that their evidence was based on this, nor will the fact that they may be right make one iota of difference to my shopping patterns. I started buying organic food because it tastes better and whether or not there is or there isn’t significant scientific difference between the two kinds of food, I’ll continue buying organic food and I’ll continue supporting the smaller farmers who dedicate their lives to farming without supporting the large chemical companies who are choking the world with their chemical waste. Below the excerpt from Reuters. “A small number of differences in nutrient content were found to exist between organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs, but these are unlikely to be of any public health relevance,” said Alan Dangour, one of the report’s authors. “Our review indicates that there is currently no evidence to support the selection of organically over conventionally produced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority.” The results of research, which was commissioned by the British government’s Food Standards Agency, were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Sales of organic food have fallen in some markets, including Britain, as recession has led consumers to cut back on purchases. The Soil Association said in April that growth in sales of organic products in Britain slowed to just 1.7 percent in 2008, well below the average annual growth rate of 26 percent over the last decade, following a plunge in demand at the end of the year. To put everything in context we would be amiss if we didn’t quote Peter Melchett, of  the Soil Association who said: “The review rejected almost all of the existing studies of comparisons between organic and non-organic nutritional differences ….  because the studies didn’t meet particular criteria fixed by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, which carried out the review. Although the researchers say that the differences between organic and non-organic food are not ‘important’ ……………they report in their analysis that there are higher levels of beneficial nutrients in organic compared to non-organic foods”.

CHOCOLATE CAKE

Ingredients

• 50 g organic plain flour
• 60 g ground organic almonds
• 225 g good quality organic  dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids), broken into pieces
• 225 g organic butter
• 6 free-range organic eggs, separated
• 50g soft brown organic sugar
• 2 tsp grated organic orange zest
• 175 g organic caster sugar
• icing sugar, for dusting

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180 C.
• Grease and line the base and sides of a 20 cm loose-bottomed or clip-sided cake tin with greaseproof paper.
• Sift the flour and almonds into a bowl.
• Put the chocolate pieces and butter into a heatproof bowl placed over a pan of simmering water and heat, stirring occasionally, until it’s melted and smooth, remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
• Separate the eggs, put the brown sugar into the bowl with the egg yolks and whisk together for a few minutes until frothy.
• Add the flour mixture to this as well as the melted chocolate and the grated orange zest and then fold lightly to mix, using a large metal spoon.
• Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks stage and  gradually add the caster sugar, continue whisking to stiff peaks stage.
• Gently fold the egg white mixture into the chocolate mixture and pour the mixture into the cake tin.
• Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes, or until crisp on top and squidgy inside – test the cake with a cocktail stick or skewer – it should come out a bit sticky, but not wet.
• Allow to cool on a wire rack – the cake will sink a little but don’t worry about that and then peel the paper off when the cake’s cold – be careful with this.
• To serve, dust the cake with icing sugar and cut into slices.