This has made this month's challenge to buy only organic very simple if not expensive. But why do it?

My husband prefers to eat organic foods wherever possible as he believes that some of his many allergies may be provoked by the chemicals used in farming, which are often wax based and so almost impossible to wash off.

I know that when we make a concerted effort to eat only organic, in conjunction with a balanced diet, the eczema like rashes that have plagued him for years will often disappear.

For me though, the damage caused by artificial pesticides and fertilisers on our rivers, flora and fauna concerns me more.

I can't say for certain that chemicals in foods do cause allergies, but water pollution and the decline of some of our native species are hard to dismiss.

The arguments for and against the safety of organic foods are numerous and mind boggling, and to be honest only organic food from farmers' markets at the peak of the harvest season seem to taste better.

Organic and non-organic supermarket foods are pretty much the same to me.

I buy organic because I like to think that this encourages supermarkets and farmers to manage our farmland in a more environmentally friendly way.

I say we eat wonky cucumbers and pick the grubs out of cauliflowers. I say we spend more money on healthy and environmentally friendly produce and forgo the £100 trainers.

I say history should remember us as the Conservationists, and not as the Consumers.