Organic Food in Restaurants

Kids food expert: how easy is it for children to eat organic food when eating out?

Ask our expert: I'd feel happier if my children eat predominantly organic food but this can be a huge challenge when eating out. What to do? Janet Broome, Oxford

Beverley Glock writes: Many people are convinced of the benefits of the organic movement and try to eat organic whenever and wherever they can. However, eating non-organic food occasionally isn't going to cause you or your children much harm.  Choosing a restaurant with good quality, freshly prepared and cooked food that tastes great and is child-friendly is far better, and probably far cheaper, than eating somewhere that may not deliver all of the above but uses organic produce.

If you are determined to eat organic food there are a number of UK-wide pub-restaurant chains, including Beefeater, Table Table, Brewers Fayre and JD Wetherspoon to name a few, that offer some organic choices. The problem I find with these pub-style restaurants - apart from the pubbiness - is that not all of the children's options are organic.

Once children reach the age when they can read the menu you risk a heated debate if you try to restrict their choice to the purely organic option. If you have impeccably well-behaved, non-argumentative children then you'll be fine.

Alternatively there are smaller restaurant chains such as Pizza Organic who are based in London and the Home Counties and the following websites have resources for local organic cafes and restaurants: http://www.alotoforganics.co.uk/, aboutorganics.co.uk, and dine-online.co.uk.

A number of restaurants don't guarantee their ingredients are organic but you may find, when you ask, that they actually use a lot of organic produce. It's just they can't state it on the menu as their supplier may let them down or particular ingredients may be out of stock on a delivery and alternatives which are non-organic have to be substituted.

When I called my children's favourite restaurant (Noodle Nation with branches in Bucks and Oxon) they stated that their fresh ingredients were organic but some of the staples such as soy sauce weren't. Although they made their noodles fresh from organic ingredients they sometimes had to revert to dried if they ran out and the dried noodles weren't organic, therefore they couldn't get organic certification.

Ultimately, I'd prefer to relax, enjoy the food and the company and not worry about eating the occasional non-organic ingredient.

For more information visit: http://www.splatcooking.net/Splat_Cooking/Discover.html http://www.beverleyglock.com/

For the best local produce in your area visit the Times Real Food Directory

To find an organic box scheme in your area use the Times Organic Box Finder

From Times Online
August 5, 2008
Beverley Glock