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Babies Raised on Organic Food That Parents Cannot Afford Themselves

Posted on: Monday, 2 January 2006, 06:00 CST

By Alison Hardie, Senior News Writer

MORE than half of Scottish children under two are now fed an exclusively organic diet - even when their parents are unable to afford to buy organic food for themselves.

Organic baby food sales accounted for 43 per cent of the total market in 2004, at a value of GBP 63 million. But sales show that more than half of all Scots parents now buy organic for their youngsters.

The huge growth in the organic market is being fuelled by the success of ready-made products made by companies such as Hipp, which supplies parents with organic purees for weaning babies on to solid food.

The supermarket chain Asda, which admits its sale of organic produce to adults accounts for less than 2 per cent of overall sales, has even begun stocking luxury frozen meals for babies to cope with the demand for organic quality baby food.

Anna Ashmole, the head of the Soil Association Scotland, confirmed that recent statistics showed more than half of Scottish children under two are now fed an exclusively organic diet.

"Having children can be a wake-up call for parents in more ways than one. People naturally want the best for their children and more than half of baby meals sold are now organic.

"The health implications of diet are particularly crucial for children as they have a higher intake of food and water per unit of body weight than adults, and their relatively immature organ systems may have limited ability to detoxify substances such as pesticides," she said.

"On the positive side, organic milk can contain up to 71 per cent more omega 3 than non-organic milk and has a better ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 than conventional milk."

A survey by pollsters BMRB for Hipp found four out of five mothers with infants between six months and a year chose organic food for weaning, compared with just a quarter of mums who weaned their babies 15 years ago.

The survey, among 805 mothers and pregnant women, showed their clear rejection of foods grown using chemical sprays.

And it found the main reasons mothers buy organic were "less risk of chemical pesticides" (87 per cent); "no GM" (84 per cent) and "no additives" (80 per cent).

However, the majority of parents still chose not to give themselves a wholly organic diet - with cost being a big factor.

Environmental campaigners hope parents will follow in their children's footsteps, changing forever the eating habits of Scots whose health is critically compromised by a "traditional" diet of fried and fatty foods.

Mark Ruskell, the Green MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, said: "There is evidence that people are buying organic food for their children , but just for themselves for special occasions or perhaps the weekend.

The message about pesticides is getting through and parents are becoming more concerned about the effects of the cocktail of pesticides in much of the food produced today.

"Clearly they want the best for their children, and that's why they are buying organic."

The Soil Association Scotland has been encouraging more children to eat organic produce - and helping schools source it from local producers.

Hurlford School in Ayrshire is its "gold standard", as pupils there enjoy school meals made from at least 30 per cent organic ingredients. Half the food cooked is from local sources and it is 75 per cent cooked from unprocessed ingredients.

Source: Scotsman, The

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