Organic vegeboxes can work out cheaper than buying non-organic vegetables from the major supermarkets and up to 65 per cent cheaper than supermarket organic produce.

In a snapshot survey I did last week (period of 28 August – 1 September 2008) comparing the cost of a large organic vegebox with the same items bought from two supermarkets (from both organic and non-organic ranges), a greengrocer’s shop and a city-centre market, the organic vegebox was only beaten on price by the market stall, where a basket of comparable non-organic vegetables was seven per cent cheaper.

I conducted the research to test the popular perception that organic food is more expensive. The results really surprised me. Specifically, I wanted to know whether organic vegeboxes could compete on price with organic vegetables from supermarkets. I thought they might work out slightly cheaper but I was astounded to discover that buying the same organic vegetables in the same quantities from supermarkets cost so much more [64 per cent in Sainsbury’s and 44 per cent in Tesco]. People are turning away from organic food because they think it’s too expensive – and in supermarkets, it is.

However, what shoppers don’t realise is that even buying non-organic equivalents from the major supermarkets can still cost more than an organic vegebox. My vegebox costs me £10. To get the same produce from the loose, unpackaged regular vegetables in Tesco came to £11.44. Buying from my local greengrocer was cheaper than that. It just goes to show that organics aren’t necessarily more expensive than non-organics. It all depends where you buy your vegetables from.

The same comparison with a medium-sized organic fruit box, valued at £6.00, also worked out more expensive to buy from supermarkets, with the (non-organic) market stall again undercutting other retailers to come in at £5.39, just over ten per cent cheaper. Tesco’s non-organic equivalents came to £6.23, the greengrocer’s bill came to £6.55 and the same non-organic fruit from Sainsbury’s came to £7.63. The supermarkets’ organic ranges were more expensive still: Tesco’s basket came to £7.42, Sainsbury’s to just over £9.00 – a full 50 per cent dearer.

Going by these findings, I’d say the last place you should go to for value for money for fruit and veg is the big supermarkets. Vegebox suppliers – and I don’t mean from supermarkets; they’re terrible value – local shops and markets offer much better deals. They’re also a much more sustainable way of shopping and, unlike supermarkets, produce very little plastic packaging. And, of course, they are far better for the environment, too.

It’s important to get the message out there because organic food sales are currently falling: figures released by market research company TNS showed that organic food sales dropped from a peak of nearly £100m a month earlier this year to £81m in the latest four-week period recorded. The Soil Association launched Organic Fortnight today (Saturday 6 September) with the slogan, ‘Love your planet, choose organic’, but it’s a choice that consumers paying supermarket prices increasingly feel they have to compromise on because of the credit crunch.

It frustrates me when I see TV news coverage about rising food prices because it’s generally from a supermarket checkout, as if that’s the only option shoppers have. I popped down to Newgate Market in York today, and while I was getting my haul of lettuce, garlic, a bunch of beetroots, freshly picked spinach and banana shallots from a stall that sells home-grown produce (£2.50 the lot), the conversation among the customers was why people were buying overpriced veg from the adjacent Marks & Spencer when it was all so much cheaper a mere 50 yards away.

Still, I used to be a supermarket addict, even though we had great local shops just down our road, and it took a conscious and concerted effort to change my shopping habits. Once I did, I wondered why I’d ever done it that way! I’m not saying I don’t ever use supermarkets – I go once every 6 to 8 weeks to stock up on store-cupboard items, loo rolls, tinned and frozen goods – but each time I go now I wince at the amount of packaging it generates, however careful I am to keep it to a minimum. Then there’s all the built-in carbon emissions from each and every item . . . . I’m working on phasing out those occasional supermarket trips completely; we’re talking about getting rid of the car next year, which will definitely put a stop to it

Now, I buy from local shops and get a regular vegebox delivery from Goosemoor Organics, which is just 15 miles away from us and delivers to lots of other people in our area, including my next-door neighbour. I top up with other stuff from one or other of my local greengrocers and I also use farm shops and the market. This year I started growing my own vegetables for the first time and I’m about to take on a part-share in an allotment with a friend.

Now, more than ever, I think it’s important that people consider the choices available and diversify the way they shop. Ethical shopping is the first thing to suffer when times are hard. It shouldn’t be seen as a luxury but inevitably it is. Never mind that organic food is better for your health, isn’t contaminated with pesticide residues and doesn’t damage ecosystems. At times like this, the bottom line is price, so let’s make the debate about money.

Yes, you can get a can of beans cheaper from a supermarket, but you’re still paying over the odds for fresh produce, and not just the organic stuff. In my survey I bought loose, unpackaged supermarket veg and fruit wherever possible and it was still more expensive. It’s time for shoppers to wise up. It’s not just the planet that will benefit. Your pocket could, too.