One in every five vegetables contains illegal amounts of pesticide

I just assumed this to be the case and avoided fruit sourced locally on instinct.

About to try a service that delivers seasonal stuff from sicily every week to your door.

volcane wrote:

I just assumed this to be the case and avoided fruit sourced locally on instinct.

About to try a service that delivers seasonal stuff from sicily every week to your door.

I'd be interested in something like that.  Can you post details?

We have not used them yet - starting soon - so I cannot recommend them one way or the other.

but check 'Barbuto' on facebook

volcane wrote:

We have not used them yet - starting soon - so I cannot recommend them one way or the other.

but check 'Barbuto' on facebook

Thanks, I'll give them a try.

What makes you think that other Mediterranean countries are any better than Malta?

Ray

The article states no imported veg had exceeded any limits and you just have to see how things are.

The one I mentioned have a organic farming cert and make specific claims about their methods etc - of course it's all face value unless you get it all tested yourself you won't know. But I have been to several Italian farms and if they say they are organic they take it very seriously.

Malta otoh with general zero care for anything natural, horrific ways with pets and wild animals and being a pretty challenging environment it just seems like a natural expectation they would need to go to much greater lengths to grow stuff - which inevitably means pesticides and stuff. Combine with the profits-at-any-cost attitude? Zero chance anything actually organic will happen here at significant scale.

There for sure is not the kind of space here for real organic growing methods with the kind of land management that require.

It's a gut feeling I had as I said. One that reality seems to back up. I can't get comment on foreign sourced veg but for sure we have been happier with stuff clearly labelled as foreign.

I read the bit about no imported veg had exceeded any limits as well.  I've ordered a box from Barbuto to try.

Better still grow your own

We order boxes from Barbuto every now and then and are quite happy with them (although some people say he 'cheats' sometimes ...)

Other options include:
- Incampagna Malta: also imported boxes from Sicily
- Hames Sensi organic shop in Fgura: they don't stock a whole of fresh produce, so it's better to ask them before what they have on any given day, and they can keep it aside for you
- Vincent's Ecofarm in Mgarr
- The Vegbox in Attard
- Smart supermarket has an organic section with some fresh produce

These two are our favourite (and much cheaper than the options mentioned above):
- Louis Cini is a certified organic farmer in Armier, you go to his field, get a wheelbarrow, and you point out what you want and he cuts it for you, snails and earwigs and all! It's super fresh and super tasty! I believe he sells some of his stuff to Smart Supermarket and/or the Vegbox (or at least he used to), but if you get him from him it's 4 times cheaper and fresher.

- Majjistral Ecofarm in Manikata: a super rustic affair, best to call beforehand to see whether they're around and what they have, and it's the same, you go to the fields and get the super fresh stuff. Certified organic since more than 10 years. We got some strawberries yesterday, they looked unreal (like, super nice and shiny) but were truly delicious.

These last two options are a bit far/out of the way, but woth it in my opinion, especially if price is an important factor (they sell their stuff at the same price as normal produce at the market).

For addresses etc.: Google and Facebook are your friends

SimCityAT wrote:

Better still grow your own

Lot easier to grow your own in U.K. and Austria, not many properties with gardens or space to do so.

It is a big problem, but I imagine this is a worldwide problem to some extent.

At least, I have to say, a lot of the local Malta produce looks far more natural than the imported stuff. I mean, a lot of times maltese lettuces have snails and bugs, and I've never seen one in the imported from Netherlands plastified ones which I buy sometimes too. I can't believe the Maltese have more pesticides than the Dutch one, frankly.

Then again, I can imagine how maltese would simply overuse certain chemicals just to get more produce, without giving a second thought about it.

But on the whole, I see Maltese products more natural looking, smaller, with many more imperfections, bruises, and some of them will develop fungus and expire soon. Foreign produce many times is perfect, shiny, and will last much longer.

I've lived in Spain and fruit and vegetables looked far more treated.

I agree, it's certainly a Europe-wide (or even worldwide) problem - I reckon the vegetables grown near where I live in Austria, in a rather narrow valley with the motorway right next to the fields, aren't really free of chemicals, either...

I eat loads of vegetables, and I've always been happy with the fresh veg from the food vans and the Ta Qali market (but, of course, I I can only talk about the taste... I have no idea about how many chemicals the vegetables really contain)

I'll try some of the import services. Thanks!

The size of some of the vegetables (when compared with U.K) made me think they were GM crops... Does anyone buy organic fruit & veg in Malta and do you believe they are actually organic??

Malta is a solid rock with a very thin layer of soil.
So, where do you expect fertile soil to come from for naturally grown vegetables?
Of course, the farmers use tons of pesticides and chemical fertilisers to get reasonably vegetables.

However, I'm fine with products from Lidl (as confirmed by the newspaper), the weekly organic combo box from Barbuto and occasional shopping at the local veg shop ... I do not like the veg vans where the food is covered the whole day by exhaust gases.

and some actions... "18 farmers banned from selling produce at Ta' Qali because of illegal pesticide levels..."   ..but this will stop them to sell the veg/fruits from vans , or local shops.. ?


http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/vi … gal.646807

Some follow up on this - farmers themselves claiming it's impossible without pesticide etc. There are organic farmers here of course but this seems to confirms what I felt

Happy with Barbuto

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/vi … eed.647875

I have tried Barbuto and I am not very impressed - I was delivered less fruit & vegetables with the combo box than promised, and some fruit were in bad condition. Their reply? nothing, just silence. I know that it is organic and so it can go off, but then they should provide more quantity to allow for the possible deterioration. About the taste, some things were better, but others I could not tell the difference, or in fact they tasted worst. I was thinking that being the first order I will be better served.

Does anyone know of another organic fruit & vegetable seller that delivers door to door in Malta?

Yeah, I've tried Barbuto twice now, the first time I got the largest box and ended up with a coconut and a pineapple.  I'm not totally convinced they came from Sicily, but I ordered again, the smaller 4 person combo box the next time.  The second time wasn't too good.  Hardly enough potatoes for one meal, but enough courgettes to feed the whole apartment block.  Now I love courgettes, but I don't want to live off them.