Bit of a statement of the obvious

So if the Government's Food Standards Agency has pronounced that organic food is no healthier and no better for us than non-organic - so what is in it for Gordon's lot?

The current Government never does or says anything without some cunning stunt lurking in the background so you have to wonder what policy, favour or promised donation to party funds is lurking in the shadows.

As for the report itself it is rather like telling us that the sun comes up in the morning. Anyone who knows that plants should be planted green side up should be able to tell you that plants do not care if their nutrients come from specially imported fermented Peruvian Llama droppings composted with fruit bat guano or from a smelly chemical factory in Widnes.

Complex organic feeds break down in the soil while industrially produced chemicals are already in the simple form, or close to it, that plants need to be able to absorb them as a solution.

Anyone knows you can produce a decent crop of veg hydroponically, without any soil or organic matter at all feeding the plants a stream of chemicals. So to tell us that organic and non-organic veg contain basically the same amounts of nutrients is hardly earth shattering. Plants take what they need and if they run short you have a poor crop.

Missing from the FSA study though was any figures for levels of trace elements, residual pesticides and any environmental impact not to mention any differences in taste.

Many of the fruit and veg on supermarket shelves have been bred and grown to produce a heavy yield of uniform, attractive fruit or veg with a long shelf life. Flavour never enters the equation. They are routinely sprayed against pests and fed according to a timetable rather than need and they are then picked to order.

The method produces cheap and plentiful food with bland flavour - keep it bland and there is not a lot for people to like, or more importantly, dislike.

The cheap food though is likely to contain residual pesticide and fungicide, which was not measured in the study, while the excessive use of fertilisers washes off to pollute rivers and watercourses, which again went unrecorded.

In addition heavy production is turning the soil in many fields into infertile deserts which now need dosing with chemicals to grow anything.

Organic growing with green and animal manure, organic feeds and so on produces a healthy soil full of bacteria, fungus, nematodes and humus. The soil is fertile and a healthy population of everything from worms to bacteria break down soil particles to release nutrients and trace elements.

So just to tell us that organic and non-organic produce contain the same nutrients is hardly earth shattering so we will have to wait to see why it seemed so important to tell us.