There is a constant flow of customers at Vincent's Eco Farm in Zebbiegh, so it's hard to have an uninterrupted conversation with Gloria Camilleri, but that's fine with me as it gives me a chance to choose a selection of vegetables and fruit for tonight's supper and take in the surrounding landscape. This little piece of heaven in the Maltese countryside is an escape from it all, especially today being Election Day!

It is no wonder that Gloria gave up her life in town as a fashion retailer for this. Just seeing the farm shop ahead of me as I drove towards it made my eyes involuntarily widen with surprise and glee. She has created an attractive organic vegetable and food shop in the middle of nowhere and, more importantly, shows that it can be done.

Gloria explains that growing organic produce isn't an easy task, with 30 per cent of her crops perishing, but there is no doubt in her mind that there are definite benefits from eating organic - from the field to the fork. And not only that - she tells me that there are products that we spray on or rub into our bodies that are not safe as we absorb all sorts of chemicals.

Her telling me this reminds me of when I was pregnant and I suddenly ask myself why I have once again become more complacent about using perfumes and 'big brand' body washes, when I was so strict with myself carrying and breast-feeding my daughter... Do we turn a blind eye only when it suits us? And can the risks really be true?

Unfortunately, the fact is cancers are on the rise - apparently one in three people will get cancer at some point in their lives - and exposure to air pollution and chemicals, and the use of artificial sweeteners and pore-blocking deodorants, could be to blame. Gloria tells me that some of her customers - who are parents or cancer patients or who have relatives with cancer are more conscious of what they put in and on their bodies. "It takes having cancer or being a parent to even think about it, when knowing what is healthy and what is not should be a lifestyle choice."

When asked which country is the most health conscious, she smiles and answers with immediate certainty "the Scandinavians". While she has a lot of French and German customers, as well as a few Italians, it is really the Scandinavians who - without a doubt - are at the top of the ladder when it comes to health-conscious eating. "The Maltese haven't been exposed to enough healthy eating. I think that, for some, it's just a simple lack of awareness of what is and isn't good for you. Just because a food item, including meat and eggs, is labelled as 'fresh', it doesn't mean that it isn't without pesticides or hormones, for example. Mass-produced foods are made to sell - and for a profit - so not all the producers care what they are feeding you."

I browse through the packaged products inside the shop, mostly picking up the ones that my toddler has carried or thrown from one side to the other, and outside - some with ingredients that I've never even seen before - and Gloria holds one out to me to explain that you don't need to investigate the label as you would in a regular shop after she has sourced and selected everything from organically-certified producers. How refreshing: I spend ages reading the small print on packaging in the supermarket!

So, I ask myself - and Gloria - why aren't we all living this way and why has it taken so long for Malta to get anywhere close? I was corrected and told that Malta has seen big changes over the years and that people are more knowledgeable than they were, but organic living can be costly if your mindset is to spend less money on food, and it will take more time for it to be an integral part of society here. Farmers need to be shown how to use organic farming techniques and told how important it is not to douse our crops in artificial fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides, since these go straight back into our bodies and the soil.

And why is she living this way? She says: "My dream is that everyone will go organic. I have an electric car, and I have made this my life. It's because our island is so small that we could do so much more! We could all have - or more of an incentive to own - an electric car, and access to free energy. It is possible! When are people going to start switching off the light when it isn't theirs, or stop only thinking about the bill?" Good question!