Shannonleigh Organic Foods

at 176 Hunter Street Mall, Newcastle , 2300 Australia

1. Grocery Store
2. Food & Grocery

Bill Denniss draws on his decades of experience in organic farming to provide health, ethics, and price conscious shoppers with a fantastic alternative to the big supermarkets.

Description

After decades of farming organically Bill became the first fruit and vegetable farm in 1989 to be certified organic with Biological Farmers of Australia. His interest in the land and natural healing lead him to do extensive research into natural remedies and eatable plants (weeds e.g. dandelion, milk thistle and nettle)with healing properties. Shannonleigh Organics - What We're All About Over 35 years of producing and selling organic foods we have seen amazing results from people changing to eating organically. In 1979 I opened the regions first organic and vegetable shop in railway square in Wyong NSW. I believe that there was no need to use chemicals or chemical fertilisers and tried to prove this true. I organised about 123 farmers in NSW and Queensland who believed as I did to produce fruit and vegetables for me to distribute. At the time there was the "An apple a day keeps the Doctor away" advertising campaign running so I bought a commercially bought red apple and tested it for chemical residue by the agricultural department of Sydney University. The results of the test were sent to media outlets all over Australia which started a major shakeup of chemical use in farming produces resulting in any poisons being banned. In our shop we conducted a survey with a number of young families with children suffering from many illnesses such as Asthma, ADHD, Autism and Diabetes. We asked them to itemise all the fruit and vegetable they purchased each week and then we supplied them with the same organic produce for the same price. After a few weeks we asked them to readjust their order to show what the children were eating and all were eating more fruit and vegetable (with no waste) and less bread products. Their total food bill had come down and within 5 weeks the children were having fewer episodes related to their conditions eg. ADHD symptoms, no Asthma attacks and the Autistic child was beginning to speak and had improved greatly. After giving those suffering with Diabetes a small piece of Jerusalem artichoke to have daily they were able to reduce their insulin. We also used chelation (removing heavy metal from the body) through the consumption of fresh herbs such as nettle, milk thistle, dandelion all of which had amazing results! After 10 years of assisting customers in this way the process of organic certification was introduced and in 1989 I became the first fruit and vegetable farmer to become certified with the Biological Farmers of Australia. Over the year I have seen the change from natural farming, where the aim is to produce food the way nature intended, working with nature using only varieties of plants which had evolved in the natural way and using weeds and herbs to build up the soil and encourage predator insects to control pests. It was my aim to work towards to conservation of the earth for future generations while providing customers with high quality and sustainable organic produce. Unfortunately through my many years of experience in the industry it has become apparent that many growers are only interested in the almighty dollar, The certification system seems to only support the large commercial producers, chain stores and major wholesalers. Blanket spaying of 'allowed' insecticides, the use of synthetic gasses and hybrid breeds to improve appearance and prolong shelf life are all terrible for both the environment, the agriculture industry AND the customer. The result of these practices is that many beneficial insects that are crucial to bio dynamic farming practices are being wiped out. As an example bees are being forced to travel six kilometers from their hive which affects pol and resulting in hybrid insect varieties. Test have shown that eating produce that has been gassed have less taste and have been known to trigger asthma attacks, attacks and episodes of autism, hyperactivity and ADHD. It is my believe that if an apple has been picked before it is fully ripe and put into cold storage where is has been gassed that it is no longer organic. A banana or lemon picked for looks when green then gassed to looks ripe are also no longer organic in my opinion although current certification standards deem them organic. If a farmer cannot grow a product as good as his neighbour he can make a (false) complaint to the certification body who has the power to suspend or decertify without true cause. These same auditors can approve certification to any farm as long as the right money is paid and paperwork is done to their satisfaction. At Shannonleigh Organics we believe in what we do, and will only sell as organic what we truly believe IS organic. We did not reapply for certification as we no longer have faith in the system. We grow as much as we can ourselves and purchase the rest from organic wholesalers and people we know and trust. We try to supply the best quality organic produce as we possibly can and have customers who still rely on us after 30 years! Over the year we have got to know some wonderful people and knowing that the help and advice we have given has been acknowledged and appreciated makes it all worthwhile. Many people who were told they had very little time to live believe that the change to good food from us has changed their lives. Even before organic became trendy we had visits from experts in the field who did articles in papers around Australia. We've had busloads of visitors from Japan, Germany and Korea and have even been featured in Kylie Kwong's book 'It Tastes Better.' Our produce is available at: Mangrove District Markets on the 2nd Sunday of every month as well as Hunter St Mall in Newcastle - Wed-Sat Also available at About Life stores in Roselle, Bondi and soon at Cammeray

Opening time

• Thursdays: 08:00- 15:00
• Fridays: 08:00- 15:00
• Saturdays: 08:00- 15:00

Company Rating

729 FB users likes Shannonleigh Organic Foods, set it to 1 position in Likes Rating for Newcastle, New South Wales in Grocery Store category

Summary

Shannonleigh Organic Foods is Newcastle based place and this enity listed in Food & Grocery category. Located at 176 Hunter Street Mall NSW 2300. Contact phone number of Shannonleigh Organic Foods: 0476041814