Bristol’s Organic Food Festival opened this weekend for the ninth year running in, as the Soil Association’s director Patrick Holden says, a resilient mood.

Resilience, meaning ‘the ability to withstand’, is what the organic movement needs right now in the face of ‘bad science’ attacks by the Foods Standards Agency and the downturn in the economic climate. Many small producers are simply going out of business, says Patrick.

But for the 200 who were at the festival, it was a cracking weekend, as Wallace of Bristol’s Wallace and Gromit, might say, with beautiful weather, lively trade and a wonderful location by the historic waterfront.

The organic veg looked mouthwatering: pyramids of pumpkins, stacks of carrots, bunches of dahlias, dusky-bloomed damsons, gold cherries and scarlet apples. There were a number or artisan cheese stalls from Godminister’s pungent vintage smoked cheddar to Bath Soft Cheese Ltd’s unctuous brie. There was plenty to drink from Green Bean Mobile Coffee to organic whisky, plus a whole Street Food Bazaar, which included Cotswold Crepes and Café Maitreyea, Bristol’s best vegetarian restaurant.

I was pleased to see a number of fashion and textile companies including Howies, the Ardalanish Isle of Mull Weavers with their elegant tweed coats and Raggedy, tops and frocks made from pre-loved clothes. The Health and Skincare Pavilion was equally exciting, featuring the well known brand, Green People, as well as newcomers, Raw Organics and Mádara, an eco cosmetics company.

There was also a demo kitchen with Mitch Tonks knocking up fresh fish and Barny Haughton, proprietor of Bordeaux Quay, a smart restaurant, bar and deli by the docks. My one disappointment was that there was no one selling cake: last year I ate the finest slice of chocolate cake ever and was looking forward to a repeat performance.

Still, as Patrick Holden says, “If we’re concerned about climate change, fossil fuel depletion and the general fragility of the environment, these days the single most important thing we can do is to buy food with a better story and that’s what the Bristol Organic Food Festival is all about.” Here’s to organic cake.