Like our hunter-gatherer forebears we should look nature to give us the nutrition our bodies require, writes Sarah Marriott.
Evidence of the health benefits of eating food grown without pesticides or herbicides - and prepared without additives - is more convincing than ever.
Organically grown food contains significantly higher levels of nutrients, according to an independent review of a UK Soil Association study. It found that organic fruit and vegetables had 27 per cent more vitamin C, 29 per cent more magnesium and 21 per cent more iron than conventionally grown crops.
The easiest and most economical way of eating organically is to take a walk on the wild side and eat what nature provides. A trip into the countryside in early autumn will reveal hedgerows full of glistening deep-purple blackberries - packed with vitamin C.
Find a lane without much traffic (and pollution) and get to work with a bucket; eating as many as you pick is half the fun - and makes a better family day out than a visit to the supermarket.
Like our hunter-gatherer ancestors, Darina Allen is an advocate of foraging. She says: "We are locked into buying food only in supermarkets and don't keep our eyes open to see what is in season around our hedgerows, hills and seashore. I am totally convinced that our bodies need foods in season - and wild food is only available at certain times of the year. Older people, for example, say you need four feeds of nettles in May to clear the blood and aid rheumatics."
Foragers need never go home empty-handed, says Allen. Spring provides us with young nettles, sorrel leaves, fiddle-head ferns and samphire; summer gives us wild garlic, elderflowers, bishop weed, horseradish and watercress while a hunt in the countryside in autumn rewards us with an array of nuts and berries as well as crab apples and mushrooms.
Nature also provides us with remedies for most common complaints, says Judith Hoad, who has been a herbalist for 40 years. Did you know that a tea made from daisies will aid rheumatic pains? Or that crushed ribwort leaves are an instant remedy for insect bites? Or that dandelion is one of the most important medicinal herbs for the kidneys and the liver? Make your own dandelion tea to use as a diuretic by adding boiling water to the broken-up leaves, then strain and add honey. "Drink six cups a day to relieve oedema," advises Hoad.
Elderflowers are another under-used natural resource. Use them to break a fever, says Hoad. "Dunk the whole head in a cup of boiling water and drink as hot as possible. It's also soothing for sore throats mixed with single-origin honey. And later in the year, the fruit makes a good cough remedy. Boil it in water, strain, add honey and simmer until it gets thick. Then put it into sterile bottles. It also makes a beautiful country wine, rich in vitamin C."
One highly nutritious vegetable, widely eaten during the famine and still easy to find, is seaweed. Nowadays though, instead of collecting native seaweeds, we're more likely to buy packets from Japan or tablets, says Jill Bell of the Well and Good health food store in Midleton, Co Cork.
"People buy kelp tablets because they are high in iodine which is good for the thyroid gland and boosts metabolism. And they add a strip of dried kombu or kelp to the cooking water to tenderise beans and add extra nutrients," she says. "Dried carrageen is a local remedy for chest infections. People simmer it and drink the liquid with orange juice and honey."
All seaweeds are high in vitamins, minerals and micronutrients and low in calories. Dulse (or dillisk) is a good source of zinc, manganese, calcium, potassium and is particularly high in iron. Carrageen contains vitamins A, C, D, E, K, B1, B2 and B12 and is also high in iodine, calcium, manganese, zinc, bromine, iron and protein.
Seaweeds may slow the signs of ageing as the iodine helps to produce thyroxin, a hormone that stimulates the nervous system, which helps to slow down damage and oxidisation of cells.
You don't need to eat seaweed to get benefits; a hot bath with fresh kelp, dulse or bladder wrack will detoxify the body and is thought to improve circulation, aid weight loss, ease menopausal discomforts and relieve muscle pain and fatigue. You can even use seaweed to make beauty products; from face creams to body wraps and hair treatments.
Some wild foods are poisonous so whether you're foraging for wild berries, nuts, mushrooms, leaves or seaweeds, make sure you know exactly what is is that you're gathering.