Buying organic or not buying organic aren’t the only two points on the food scale, of course. There are plenty of not-so-good organic growers and plenty of good conventional growers. So there are many grades on the scale of buying food that don’t even include the parameters of organic/conventional.

When you mention an apple at three times the price, I have to ask, ‘What is the “price standard” to which you’re referring?’ If the cheapest on the market becomes the standard, we will soon be importing all our apples from China and there will be no apples grown in this country at all. When apples that are grown in China can be landed on our shores for around $1/kg, including freight costs, which are then on-sold to retailers for marginally under the base Australian price, you can be sure that quality, freshness and nutrition are not being factored into the equation. Australian growers can’t get apples to market here for $1/kg, so should we stop growing apples here because we aren’t as “efficient” as the Chinese?

(I should say I don’t have an issue with Chinese manufacturing or growing, per se, but the idea of relying for basic foodstuffs on a country that is quickly running out of land to feed itself, with the world’s largest population, is arrogant, to say the least. Paradoxically, China looks to Australia as a net food exporter vital to its food security.)

Price is not always a good determinant of quality and quality can be defined in many ways. What I seek to do is provide information that perhaps creates an awareness that food choices have many implications: your own health and longevity and that of your family’s, the environment in which we live and, in a globalised trading environment, our country’s long-term food security.

While there has been a good deal of “food as entertainment” around for a few years now, perhaps thinking of it as merely “a chore” denies the opportunity to explore many of these issues.

And I have to say that an apple in season, plucked fresh from the tree, is a magnificent thing, regardless of whether it cost three times the cold store price. The last of the heirloom apples from Orange will be here this weekend. Please come in and enjoy one.

I see food as something of a chore – one that needs to be measured and taken in moderation, certainly – but I cannot justify the purchase of an apple at three times the price (which is what I’ve seen in several stores so far). Although there is little evidence to prove that pesticides are safe, there is also little evidence otherwise so there is still no justification for the cost. I also cannot find any studies saying organic food has particularly better nutritional value over normal food. Thus, choosing to eat and buy organic is a lifestyle choice rather than nutritional.

As for running up to BMW and iPhone owners and complaining they’re overpriced… They’ve already bought it! What’s the point in doing so unless they’re going to repeat the behaviour? How many people buy BMW’s or iPhones regularly over their lives? Besides, for a lot of people buying these luxury items IS a lifestyle choice. Let them buy it.

That having being said, I’m still going to visit your store sometime and look around before my visitor gets here. It sounds interesting, at the least.