When Betty L. Khoo-Kingsley (top picture) invites her friends out for a meal, they know they'll be heading for an organic restaurant.

The author and former editor of Her World, who moved to Darwin, Australia with her husband in 1994, has been eating organic food for nearly 15 years.

Ms Khoo-Kingsley, who returned to Singapore two years ago after her husband's death, pursues the organic way of living and eating with a passion.

"I not only believe in eating organic, I also want to support locally grown produce," MsKhoo-Kingsley enthused.

She also became a vegetarian for health reasons because she strongly believes that consuming meat is unhealthy for the planet.

She argues that the energy used in the raising of cattle, poultry and fish is a major contributor to global warming. She believes that by curtailing meat consumption, humans could free up millions of acres of agricultural land that could be returned to forests and wild prairies.

Ms Khoo-Kingsley tries to live as simply as possible. She maintains a kitchen compost heap from vegetable peels and tries to eat as much pesticide-free food as possible.

Despite Singapore's dependence on imports, she tries to eat only seasonal and sourced food from local biodynamic farms or organic farms from neighbouring countries like Malaysia and Indonesia.

"It may not be certified organic because they still use the town water, but it is free of pesticides and chemical fertilisers," she said.

Ms Khoo-Kingsley lives with her father in the Braddell area. "My sister, her husband and son also join us for dinner every night," she said.

A typical dinner would include a mixed salad, organic brown rice, leafy green vegetables like kai lan, bok choy or chye sim, lady's finger or brinjal prepared with chilli curry.

"We usually also have a meat dish for my brother-in-law or fish for my sister," she said.

However, the family eats only chicken, eggs and fish and does not consume any mutton, beef or pork.

She orders organic vegetable boxes from Green Circle Eco Farm in Lim Chu Kang, run by her old friend Evelyn Eng-Lim. "I get a $40 box once a week. You can order from $25 onwards," she said.

Her box generally contains a mix of local vegetables and herbs. "I like the local wild bayam (spinach) and cai xin," she said.

However, she also supplements this with some supplies from Camu Camu organic shop in Hougang and organic vegetables from the wet market in Serangoon Central and rice from Kampung Senang's Holistic Lifestyle Centre in Aljunied.

When she eats out, she prefers organic restaurants like Yogi Hub and Living Greens. In all, she spends about $60 on organic food a week.

"It depends on where you go. If you source from the smaller neighbourhood shops, it can be very affordable," she said.

But she points out that eating a non-organic meal outside in one of her favourite restaurants can cost her a lot more.

"I would much rather spend the same amount on buying fresh vegetables that I can eat at home," she said.

She eschews processed snacks like chips or biscuits, sticking instead to fruit and nuts. But she opts for local and tropical fruit rather than exotic organic fruit from abroad.

"Unfortunately, local organic growers (including those in Malaysia) tend to pick unripe fruit and vegetables and pack them in plastic bags," she said.

"They sweat and don't ripen properly. Ive tried to tell them but they won't listen!"

She sometimes also buys regionally grown tropical fruit, such as organic papayas grown in the Philippines, which she gets at Serangoon Central wet market. One thing that really pleases her is that they come wrapped in newspaper.

Ms Khoo-Kingsley seldom drinks alcohol. But when she does, she'll settle for only a glass of red wine.