The Ottawa Citizen / Monday, October 15, 2001
Byline: Catherine Lawson / Source: The Ottawa Citizen

The modern supermarket is designed for convenience. Pull into the ample, no-fee parking lot, select a large cart, and buy a week's supply or more of food. Stay a little longer and you can pick up cleaning supplies, light bulbs, diapers, reading material, or a potted plant. The bigger the store, the more likely it is that you can have a prescription filled, and even drop off your dry cleaning or a roll of film.

If you want to stock your pantry with organic food, there is, quite simply, no equivalent to the supermarket. Despite the bewildering array of products available, (anyone for organic cocoa puff cereal?) it can be hard to track down.

Dr. Jeffrey Balon, a family practitioner in Ottawa, says although he would like to recommend an organic diet to his patients, he acknowledges that, "for most people, it's simply not achievable. You have to go to six different stores."

Instead, he encourages patients to introduce at least some organic food into their diet -- a much easier, and less expensive alternative.

Even if you're willing to visit multiple stores, buying organic takes know-how and the ability to read the fine print. If it simply says "organic," it may or not have been grown to strict standards.

"Some people use that word to describe anything that comes out of the ground," says David Charette, who grows certified organic produce Montebello, Que.

Look instead for the phrase "certified organic," the name of the certifying body and a licence number. This means that the food can be traced back to its source.

The various certifying bodies inspect farms and processors to ensure organic practices are followed. Some of the more commonly seen are OCPP (Organic Crop Producers and Processors), Quebec Vrai, FVO (Farm Verified Organic) and CCOF (California Certified Organic Farmers.)

An easy spot to shop for organic is the Organic Farmers Market on the grounds of Ecole Parsifal behind the Canadian Tire store on Heron Road. Almost all of the products are certified organic and the exceptions are very clearly marked. Open only once a week, Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., its 20 vendors sell high quality goods, but it would be difficult to find everything to feed a family for a week.

And as usual with organic, you'll pay for the quality. On a recent visit to the market, Stuart Collins of Bryson Farms in Shawville was selling potatoes for $2 a pound. "They were picked today," he said. "They're 99 cents (a pound) at the grocery store, but they've been hanging around for three months."

The Byward Market is a mecca for Ottawa residents looking for fresh locally grown produce. Only three of the stalls there sell organic. There are no organic vendors at the Parkdale Market.

Our city is dotted with health food stores. Some, despite their name, don't actually sell food, just a wide range of supplements. Others, like Rainbow Foods on Richmond Road and Boites a Grains in Hull, resemble small supermarkets, with all-organic produce sections and a wide range of canned and dry goods.

These stores are independently owned, so there is little consistency in what they stock. If organic quinoa flour is what you're looking for, you may have to try several stores.

There are some organic products that can be found in almost any food store. Carrots, certified organic from California, are one. (On a recent visit to the Loeb store on Rideau Street they were the only organic product in the entire produce section.) Organic kiwi fruit from New Zealand is also easy to find.

It's a rare grocery store that doesn't carry organic soy milk. But not every store that wants to stock organic dairy products has them on the shelves. It can take up to five years for a dairy to earn organic certification, says Larry Lenhardt, head of the OCPP, because the cows must have been raised from birth in organic surroundings.

Once a dairy is certified, however, "they have an assured market," says Mr. Lenhardt.

Loblaws made an impressive entry into organics early this year with 100 new President's Choice Organics products. Tea, coffee, cooking oils, cereals, cookies and dairy, it's all certified organic and priced comfortably close to regular brands.

The produce is another matter. Even at this bountiful time of year, most Loblaws organic produce is from the U.S. With a few exceptions, it's over-priced and tired looking.

It's Loblaws' buying practices that work against its stores having high quality local organic produce. Tom Manley, head of the Ottawa chapter of Canadian Organic Growers, says producers "have to sell to Loblaws at the head office."

"Large scale (organic) producers like that just don't exist."

It's the same with baked goods. There is no organic equivalent to Wonder Bread. Little Stream Bakery of Perth has the most impressive distribution. Its loaves of organic wheat, spelt, hemp and kamut can be found as far away as Toronto. In Ottawa, the product is at Natural Food Pantry stores, Trillium Bakery and the Loeb store in the Glebe.

So much information; so many stores. It can all seem just too much effort to go through for a bag of groceries.

Long-time adherents to organic diets save time if not money by ordering through food co-ops. Box programs, where a selection of organic produce is delivered weekly, are also popular.

The Ottawa chapter of Canadian Organic Growers welcomes consumers. A membership will keep you up to date on all the organic producers in the area. Call 231-9047 or check their Web site, www.cog.ca/ottawa/

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