I'll admit this upfront. I am having a hard time with this whole organic food movement that has taken over. Why? Because in the end, if I don't buy into the organic food craze, I feel like I am being a second-rate parent. But if you know me even at all, you can probably guess what is really holding me back!! THE PRICES!!
I just can't get over how much more expensive things are just because they bear the organic name. I saw this lady on tv who had a ton of debt and she just kept getting her family into more and more debt because she had to buy them organic only! She spent $900 a month on groceries!! I just feel like that is a disservice to her family.
But I do understand the health benefits behind buying organic though but I think I've decided for me, I will have to take this organic thing in "baby steps." Through a little bit of research, I have discovered some ways to save on organics.
1. When buying produce, you don't have to buy all organic. Only buy produce that is considered part of the "dirty dozen," which means that the fruit or veggies has thin enough skin that the pesticides may have affected it.
2. Watch store sales. Recently at Meijer, they had apples .99 a pound and organic apples 1.30 a pound. In this case, I would say that spending another .30 is a good idea.
3. Grow a garden. This was an idea that they gave the woman on the show I was talking about. You can't get much more organic than that!
4. Shop discounts stores and look for organic overstocks. Here's a picture of some organic things I got from Big Lots just last week. I also had a coupon so I got 20% off my whole order. I was able to buy 24 jars of organic baby food for $5.75!! Some people are scared to buy things from Big Lots, but as far as I know, they don't sell things past the expiration dates. I always check just in case before I buy them.
If you want more info on organics, check out this great article: "Are Organics Worth It?"
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/13737389//
In the end though, this is just my opinion on things and I'm sure there are differing opinions out there and I would just like to say, "Can't we all just be friends??" :)
5 comments:
I totally agree with you. Organics may be better for you but how much better is the question. The one thing I would buy organic over anything else would be dairy products, but even then, Milk is still homogenized and pastorized(sp?) which is really hard on your body. I would love to have our own milk cow. We are going to have a huge garden at the camp this year! I am so excited about it. Wendy, your sister in law recommended a film about the food industry called Food Inc that I ordered from Netflix. I am interested it what it will say about our food industry and all the crap they put into our food just to preserve them so they make more money but make us more unhealthy.
You can buy milk that hasn't been homongenized or pastorized from local farmers! The taste is a bit different, but healthier...
Also...Food Inc. will disgust you, not only about how our food is processed but how what we buy in the grocery store is directly linked to cruelty and injustice to not only animals but HUMANS!!!! Prepare yourself before you watch it, it will change the way you think about so many things!!!
Theresa Wrin
I don't care much about organic/non-organic topics, but I did get a kick out of how you both Pastor-ized the word Pasteurize. :-P
[And Yes, I actually had to look it up to make sure I was spelling it right too! :) ]
I just didn't want to make Meliisa feel bad...I always spell things the same way others do even if I know it's spelled wrong...because I'm a NICE person. :)
Theresa
You are nice Theresa!! Wes is a big meanie! And I hope I spelled meanie wrong just for him.
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