Organic food was never really on my radar. I would shop occasionally at Whole Foods and pick up foods to try here and there because I liked to try new things, not because I was in support of a certain type of farming or food processing. Then, I got pregnant with G. Knowing that I would be in charge of the health and upbringing of this little person made me look at the issue a bit more. I will be the first to tell you, we are not an organic household. Like many of you, we have a budget and don’t have a ton of expendable income to fund a complete organic kitchen. But, as I read more about the important points, two things of importance kept coming up:
1) Buy organic for certain fruits and veggies. Try to avoid the “dirty dozen”. The 12 on the left are far more likely to be saturated with pesticides for either the thin skin or growing practices.
2) Organic milk is better, especially for a little one consuming 24+ ounces each day. It’s higher in vitamins and Omega-3 fatty acids and contains no synthetic hormones or pesticides.
So the budget issue. Yes, organic produce and milk are more expensive but, for me, the cost is worth the benefits in these two areas. Organic milk is about $1.00 more per gallon than regular. Right now, it seems like a decent hit to our grocery budget but, G won’t always be drinking this much milk. This is a justifiable expense in the short term. Organic milk also has a longer fridge life than regular so, none goes to waste.
Starting on Christmas, G discovered his love of whole apples and now eats one apple every.single.day. Organic apples by the pound are very pricey. But, our grocery store also sells bags of apples. The organic bags contain 10 apples and are only $1.00 more than the equivalent size bag of regular. For 10 cents more a piece, it’s not a huge cost factor but, could be making a difference in the health of my rapidly growing, apple-loving toddler.
And, really, isn’t this happy face worth a buck every 10 days? I think so! I don’t know if these small changes will yield a huge benefit in the long run but, it certainly won’t do any harm.
Please share – what are your thoughts on organic eating?
