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Once upon a time, organic foods were the sole domain of the farmers market. Not anymore. Today they line supermarket shelves across the country and are endorsed by some of the biggest names. But just what is organic food, and why has it become one of the world’s fastest growing food sectors?
For Malcolm McGuire, publisher of Clean Food Organic, a guide to everything organic in Australia, the answer is simple – organic food is better.
“Organic foods are better in every way. They taste better and
are better for us. They’re also better for our farmers, animals and the environment.
“Organic food contains more nutrients and fewer pesticide residues than conventional food,” says Malcolm.
“In fact just last year the largest ever study into organics was conducted by Newcastle University in England. It found that organic vegetable crops contained up to 40 percent more beneficial nutrients than conventional vegetables.”
But it’s not just humans that can benefit from organic farming – animals and the environment benefit too.
“The health and welfare of animals is central to organic principles,” says Malcolm.
“Organic livestock are raised as nature intended – they are not confined to cramped or stressful living conditions nor are they given genetically modified food, growth promoting drugs or routine antibiotics.
“This all combines to make for higher quality produce. And because organic farming doesn’t use any artificial fertilisers,
it’s better for the environment.”
What are organic foods?
The basic premise behind organics is simple – less chemicals and more sustainable farming. Organic foods
are produced without using synthetic chemicals like pesticides, herbicides and artificial fertilisers or growth hormones and antibiotics. Organic foods are generally completely chemical free, but the pesticide residues from neighbouring conventional farms have been known to drift onto nearby organic produce.
How to tell if an organic product is genuine
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Look for the bona fide organic certifier’s logo
and number on the label.
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Shop at a reputable organic retail outlet.
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Ask for proof. Anyone selling genuine organic produce can prove it, and will be happy to do so.
 Sweet potato and cress gnocchi
500 grams orange sweet potato
200 grams potatoes
such as Desiree
200 grams wholemeal
plain flour, sifted
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup cress or watercress leaves, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
sea salt and freshly
ground pepper
40 grams butter
2 tablespoons
chopped parsley
extra ¼ cup grated
parmesan cheese
Scrub skin of both potatoes thoroughly. Boil the potatoes in the skin until tender. Drain the potatoes.
When cool enough to handle, remove the skins and press the flesh through a potato rice or sieve into large bowl.
Sprinkle over the flour, parmesan, cress, garlic,
and salt and pepper.
Gently and quickly combine everything with your hands: don’t overwork the dough as you’ll develop the gluten in the flour, which makes the gnocchi tough.
Shape the dough into walnut-sized pieces, and roll the dough down the back of a fork to create the traditional indented shape.
Boil a large saucepan of water, and cook the gnocchi a few at a time: they are ready when they pop to the surface. Scoop them out with a slotted spoon, being sure to drain off the water.
While doing this, melt the butter in a roasting pan, and preheat the griller to a medium high heat. Place the boiled gnocchi in the roasting dish, turning them in the butter to coat well.
Place under the grill for five minutes until lightly golden.
Serve immediately sprinkled with extra parmesan and the parsley.
 Beef and roasted pepper salad with green peppercorn-mustard dressing
1 kilogram beef fillet in one piece, tied neatly with string to keep its shape
olive oil
300 grams bitter baby leaves
2 red capsicums, roasted and skinned.
chopped flat-leaf parsley
Dressing:
3 tablespoons green peppercorns, roughly crushed in a mortar and pestle
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
8 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lime juice
Preheat oven to 200°C.
Heat a little oil in a flame-proof roasting pan on the stove top, and fry the beef on all sides until brown.
Place in the oven, and cook to desired level: rare, medium, or well done. Leave to cool. When cold, slice thinly.
Pile the salad leaves on a serving platter. Cut the capsicums lengthwise into eight pieces and arrange on leaves in the centre of the platter. Arrange the beef slices around the outside. Spoon a little dressing onto the outside edge of each beef slice. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
Dressing:
Combine the peppercorns and mustard. Combine the vinegar and lime juice.
Gradually whisk the oil into the peppercorn-mustard mixture a little at a time with the vinegar-lime mixture to form an emulsion.
 Cherry muffins
½ cup macadamia oil
½ cup caster sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
(low-fat soy milk is fine)
½ to 1 teaspoon almond essence (according to your taste)
2 cups plain flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup pitted and quartered fresh or frozen dark cherries
Preheat oven to 190°C. Allow sufficient time for the oven to heat up so that the muffins can go in the moment they are prepared.
Spray a muffin tin with oil and line each tin with a circle of baking paper to prevent sticking – this protects even your non-stick pans and helps prevent the muffins breaking when you remove them.
Sprinkle the baking powder evenly over the flour and sift twice into a large bowl.
Combine oil, sugar, eggs, milk and essence in a small bowl or jug and whisk lightly to combine the ingredients.
Add the cherries to the flour, toss through a couple of times with your hands.
Then pour over the milk mixture. Using a large spoon, fold the mixture together, bringing it up from the bottom, over the top. Each time you do this, give the bowl a quarter turn. Use only few strokes: the batter should just cling together and be quite lumpy. Overworking creates a tough muffin.
Immediately spoon the mixture into the muffin tins, filling them 2/3 full. Put them in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool for two or three minutes, then gently remove the cooked muffins to a wire tray to cool.
These freeze very well, so make a couple of batches during cherry season.
 Win a copy of Clean Food Organics*
If you’d like to learn more about organic food, we’ve got 10 copies of the latest edition of Clean Food Organic up for grabs. To win a copy, simply tell us what kind of recipes you’d like to see in future editions of Lifeplus.
Send your entries to:
Australian Unity Lifeplus
Reply Paid 72881
South Melbourne VIC 3205
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