7.10.2008

Why to Eat Organic

My last post makes a nice segue into this one. Organic produce is often more expensive (unless you belong to a great CSA!) and can seem hard to justify.

But organic has much more of the good and none of the bad, so even if you eat less fruit because you insist on organic, you'll get a lot more bang out of the fruit you do eat. And you'll be helping to restore the fertility of our soil, something even conventional farmers agree is seriously lacking.

This is a link to a study that analyzed nutritional differences in organic vs convention produce.
http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089%2F107555301750164244

And if you get get everything organic, it's important to know which fruits and vegetables have the highest pesticide load, so you can insist on getting those organic or going without. Remember, pesticides are poison and a little bit adds up over time. They don't just wash out, they are stored in our fat cells. Which means some of us have significant storage capacity :) And they compromise our immune system so that we are less able to fight off all the other nasty stuff we come in contact with. Especially the very young (including the unborn) and the old.

So, here's the chart:

http://www.foodnews.org/walletguide.php (mom, you just click on the link)

Eat Healthy!

Organic Eating

We belong to a great CSA. Every Saturday morning one of us heads into town to stand in line in a convenient church parking lot to pick up the weeks produce. We all look forward to seeing whats in the box. We get 2 big boxes of locally-grown, incredibly tasty organic produce. I'm talking peaches the likes of which you have never tasted. Picked by the farmer that very morning.


It's a great deal for the farmer because the stuff is sold before he ever picks it, and next year's is sold before he even plants it. He makes more money because he cuts out the middle man and sells to us for above-wholesale prices.


And it's a great deal for us because above-wholesale is still below retail, the produce is fresher than anything I have ever seen in a grocery store, there is more variety because things don't necessarily have to pack and ship well since they are hand-picked/packed, and we get to put our money where our mouth is; supporting local family farms and eating organic. It's been really great.


Here is the haul from a couple of weeks ago

This was for 1 WEEK. Those are cucumbers in the plastic bags, and red potatos in the paper bag in the rear right corner. The drawers are from 2 different refrigerators and are full to overflowing. In fact, they did overflow - right into the blue bowl.
This weeks box had eggplant, which has all the kids in tears. But I can't wait :) It's hard not to eat your fruits and veggies when that's all that will fit in the fridge, so it's been good for us.
Enjoy the bounty of summer - we are!