While many parents would prefer to feed their children organically, it is not always easy to find tasty foods at affordable prices, as Shoptalk discovers.

BRITISH babies are going organic - and it's easy to see why. Sales of organic food in the UK have just topped £1bn. Baby food is one of the fastest growing sectors, with three out of four British babies eating organic food on a regular basis.

And if you haven't tried it yet, just give it a go.

Manufacturers have made it child's play. Shelves groan with dinky little jars full of pure goodness. So you can whip off the lid and feed your baby instant food with a clear conscience. Bliss.

And yes, they do taste different. It's a long time since bought baby food was little more than flavoured cornflour but in our random sampling of children's food and drink, many of the "regular" products were full of sugar and flavourings that bore little resemblance to what they were meant to be.

They weren't tempting children's tastebuds so much as subjecting them to a full frontal assault.

In the organic products, you didn't need a label to tell you what you were eating - the taste was instantly recognisable - which is surely what we want for our babies.

There's a problem, of course. Because it is labour intensive, organic food will always cost more. But at baby food level, we're talking about between 5p to 10p a jar, which isn't going to amount to very much. Unless, of course, you feed your child from jars for every meal, every day. And if you do that, then you're probably past counting the cost anyway.

The problem comes when your children are past toddlerhood and you're trying to keep them healthy, doing the lunch boxes while dodging the advertising campaigns for high sugar, high fat junk food packed with additives. It gets harder and more expensive to keep organic.

More people are buying organic food in specialist shops and at farmers' markets. But because most people still do most of their shopping at supermarkets, we checked out what organic products with kid appeal were available there - and how much more they cost.

LEMONADE

Price difference: about 13p a 333ml can.

The organic lemonade has a shorter list of ingredients that includes real lemons.

FRUIT JUICE DRINK CARTONS

Price difference: about 5p per carton.

Both organic and non-organic drinks are ten per cent fruit juice. The organic - with mineral water and organic sugar - tastes nicer.

WARBURTONS SLICED BREAD

Price difference: about 20p for a small loaf.

The organic and non-organic varieties tasted identical. Neither was particularly nice.

FRUIT AND CEREAL BARS

Price difference: about 60p per 100g.

Organic bars were packed with fruit and nuts and were delicious. Supermarket bars tasted of sugar flavoured sawdust. Yuk.

TESCO LOW FAT YOGHURT

Price difference: 13p per pot.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Price difference: 40p per 100g.

HEINZ BAKED BEANS 415g

Price difference: 13p

CONCLUSION

It is virtually impossible to feed your child cheaply and healthily and lazily. Which is one of the reasons we have an epidemic of childhood obesity. Although a lot of basic favourite foods are available organically, they can cost quite a lot more.

And though there's a saving in the chemicals you might be feeding your child, there is not necessarily a bonus in taste or flavour. Away from baby foods, some of the organic products taste wonderful - real genuine flavours. Others taste, well, just sort of ordinary really. The improved flavour of organic food is a frequent bonus, but not automatic.

If you want your child to eat well, without breaking the bank, you have to put some effort in and go back to basics and cook proper food. Then the occasional junk meal won't do them any harm.

And with the money you've saved, you can afford some more expensive treats.

From little acorns...

One clear organic success is Acorn Dairy. The 300-acre farm at Archdeacon Newton, near Darlington, produces 18,000 litres of organic milk a week, much of it delivered to doorsteps and the rest available in shops throughout the region.

The Tweddle family, who've farmed there for nearly 80 years, were getting concerned at the increasing intensification of dairy farming, which meant a heavy reliance on drugs and chemicals.

They decided to go back to their roots, producing organic milk from happy cows, with GM free grass and no artificial fertiliser or pesticide sprays. The cows have a natural existence without the routine use of antibiotics but with a number of experienced stockmen taking care of them.

And having produced this fine organic milk, the Tweddles decided to sell it direct to customers, much as Gordon's father did in the 1940s. The big difference is their own state-of-the-art processing and bottling plant, the final part of the jigsaw, opened earlier this year.

"From the cow to the customer in a couple of hours," says Gordon Tweddle. "We now have control of the entire operation, with no middlemen, so we can be totally confident about what we're producing and selling. Local food for local people."

Delivered to the doorstep, the milk costs about 2p a pint more than conventional milk and is very popular, not just with older people who remember how milk used to taste, but also with youngsters who consider it "proper" milk. The milk - in special kid-size bottles - has been a great success at local primary schools.

New customers ordering semi-skimmed often think there's a mistake. The milk tastes so good, they're convinced that all the fat must be still in it. But no. "We take the fat but we leave the flavour," says Gordon and it's not hard to see why. Cows are fed a proper varied diet. The stack of maize in the yard smells so sweet and delicious, you could almost eat it yourself. Everything seems natural and wholesome.

And yes, the cows do look happy.

There have, of course, been difficulties along the way but the business prospers and the number of customers is growing. There are bonuses too - the lack of chemicals on the farm means an increase in wildlife. When they send the bills out, the Tweddles tell customers what's been spotted on the farm, or give news of the cows. It's fun and neighbourly and a world away from the soullessness of much of modern agribusiness.

"People like it because we're organic and we're local, but most of all because the milk tastes good," says Gordon.

* Acorn Dairy has delivery rounds in Darlington, Barnard Castle and Newton Aycliffe. Its milk is stocked by Asda and Morrisons in Darlington and by most local farm shops, such as Mainsgill, Thorpe Farm and Llarberry, as well as other shops from Newcastle down to Tadcaster and across to Penrith. It also supplies on its rounds other organic products such as James White fruit juices and Yeo Valley yoghurts. For details tel: (01325) 466999 or log onto www.acorndairy.co.uk.