IT was good to see your front page report on the plans for farmers' markets in the Forest. Thanks on behalf of every one of us planning to have a stall.
But we weren't too happy at the suggestion that "many cannot afford" organic food sold through a farmers' market. The prices of the fresh organic food we produce on our farm – one of the very few licensed organic holdings in the area – are affordable, fair, comparable with the prices of industrially farmed food and nothing like as high as the excessive prices charged by supermarkets for the tired, often imported, offerings on their organic food counters.
The merit of farmers' markets is that all the food is fresh, local and reasonably priced because it's sold direct by its producers who will explain how it is grown.
Organic food production costs are just a little higher than those for food produced without the guarantee that its production involved no artificial fertilisers or herbicides, minimal pesticides and maximum animal welfare.
This is because yields will be a little lower, production methods are a little more labour intensive and the costs of the inspections and records' audits essential to earn the licence needed to satisfy UK and EC organic regulations must be covered. But these cost differences are not excessive and the price of quality food, however it's produced, can never be rock bottom.
And the demanding Soil Association Organic Standards to which we must conform make a vital contribution to our food's quality in taste, purity and freshness. Moreover when you buy organic you're also making important contributions to wildlife conservation and pure drinking water production by limiting the amount of artificial fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides entering the environment.
Don't be put off by expecting that our organic food is expensive. It isn't! – Morag and David Norman, Crooked End Farm, Ruardean.