No.

I do buy some items (e.g. Rye & Spelt Flours) that happen to be organic but only because they're the only choice around.

Grow your own. Aspire to this and you will be rewarded with fresh vegetables. Also what organic really means and the fact that most veg arent perfectly formed and uniformly sized.

The only thing I routinely buy that's organic is garlic because I found it to have a more intense flavour than the non-organic variety. For everything else I buy the regular unless the organic stuff happens to be cheaper or the only thing available.

I must confess some bias in this area as I'm and Environmental chemist and my job involves all the testing that is required for things like pesticides, fungicides and herbicides to find out what they break down to and where it ends up. As a consequence I have a great deal of confidence in the safety standards to which our 'treated' food is produced.

Furthermore, organic is largely unsustainable outside the western hemisphere (in fact outside of Europe). It's a completely unsustainable way to feed the global population. The yields are simply too low for it to be a sustainable way to farm except for the super rich, not without a massive reduction in the global population anyway.

'Chemicals' can be used on organic produce in any case (sulphur for example) so claims of being 'chemical free', aside from being a meaningless phrase in the first place [clickey], isn't as true as some people would believe.

And finally, if you do want to 'go organic' then the best bet is to grow your own where you can actually determine what you've put on and how quickly things grow. For the supermarkets organic produce is just a licence to print money.

I will but only if not too expensive. I prefer to buy food that is in season, without trying to get strawberries in january etc.

Eggs are probably the only thing I buy organic. Occasionally it might be some juice or walnuts.

Maybe someone can clarify this for me. I have heard that organic food tends to lack Iron? This is important when chosing foods for my baby as she needs Iron for her development.

You can get a lot of iron from red meats. If you puree red meat I am sure that you would get enough, that and spinach or water cress.

I won't buy organic purely for the sake of it. I find myself agreeing with Linux when he says there is legislation to ensure the food in our shops is safe.

What I do buy, is the food that looks the tastiest at a price I can afford. The tomatoes I buy are often organic, because I'll only buy "on the vine" for the flavour. My apples are always organic because they come from the tree in my garden, and they're delicious. I have home-grown tomatoes now too, although they won't be in season long and don't store well. There will be chutney for the winter.

It's not just the growing techniques that makes some fruit and vegetables poor quality. It's also the transportation and storage. Fruit picked locally at the peak of ripeness tastes far better than under-ripe fruit that's been chilled and travelled half way around the world, before being ripened under UV tubes. It tastes better because it is better.

With meat and dairy, I'm more concerned about the use of hormones and the general welfare of the animals. Organic should mean no hormones, but I also want to know that the animal wasn't driven half way across Europe crammed into the back of a van where half of them are crushed or die of dehydration. In reality, there's no way to know for sure but buying local produce is always preferable.

The only produce that I, (sort of) insist is organic is eggs, and even that's not too big an issue for me, as the mother in law usually gets us a dozen whenever she goes to the farm shop.

Apart from that it's mainly cost driven for me and mine.

I opt for free range over any other type of egg. I am more concerned with the chickens welfare.

I don’t generally buy organic food although if its the same price / cheaper than “normal” then I will put it in my trolley.

I am mere concerned with Faretrade as then I know that farmers are getting a better price. (Even managed to buy a Faretrade bed last year)

I also where possible buy Rare breed esp for meat as it matures slower, is normally free range and tastes better. (We used to keep pigs – Tamworth Red – and the crackling was way better than commercial breeds as the skin / fat was thicker)

I opt for Fair trade as much as possible. I have fairtrade bananas, chocolate, tea bags and coffee. I only wished the government made all such products fairtrade. They could start with one crop and then tell the UK manufacturers that gradually all such products will have to be fair trade, or will be banned. That would do a lot more for the third worlds farmers.

I'm much more keen on animal welfare and fair trade than I am with organics. Our hens aren't technically organic (their normal hen food isn't certified organic), but they are in absolutely tip top condition and the eggs they produce are far better than supermarket organic ones. Thing is, the term Organic doesn't convery a massive amount of information, there's plenty of unpleasantness that can be done to food and it still be called organic,.

It'd be nice if the Fair Trade scheme covered the UK's farmers as well.