Why Organic?

For us, the transition to almost all organic food was gradual. We added more locally grown, organic veggies early on in our lives because we could access that easily in our garden and at farmer's markets. Fruit was more difficult since very little was available that way. So we bought conventionally grown fruit until I saw a grocery store worker stocking a fruit bin with latex gloves. It really came home to me at that moment how much pesticide was on that fruit.

Of course we had been reading -alot - on eating in a healthy way; the state of corporate food production and control of seed; GMOs and more for years.  Our natural health practitioner also encouraged us to go organic. We had been using the Environmental Working Groups Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen lists to help us navigate.  We looked at each other,  did some math on whether we thought we could afford organic fruit as opposed to consuming unneeded pesticides and the decision was made.

We had been working towards more organic meat for years before that. Each time we moved to a different city, I  stopped making my homemade broth because I needed to source organic chicken and beef. The whole point of a slow broth making is to extract flavor not just from the meat but from the bone - a good broth gels. As I mentioned in my post on making chicken broth, the thought of extracting antibiotics from the bones as well was like an anathema. This recent article in Mother Jones is a telling on the use of antibiotics in animals in the food industry.

We don't eat organic to live forever. We eat it because it is healthier for our bodies. It is supportive of our small family farms that raise food they want to eat straight from the fields and humanely raise their animals (yup, we visit the farms we buy from). It often means that we buy locally and in a direct eye-to-eye-contact way that lets the growers know how much their sweat and effort means to us.

And the money we spend on organic? It's not always as expensive as people think. I like this comparison our Viroqua Food Co-op published last year. And if we do pay more, it's where we prioritize our household expenses. We think it's worth it!