Organic

So...I buy organic. I don't buy everything organic because some things are outrageously priced, like bell peppers ($4 for one!). But if something is comparably priced or on sale, then I'll buy the organic. At first I was totally intimidated by the 'healthy' section of the grocery store. There are no familiar brands and everything looks foreign. I started slowly by just checking out the produce and trying to find items that were reasonably priced. Usually bananas, apples, pears are similarly priced to non-organic. Next I ventured into boxed items like cereal and granola. These are typically priced much higher than say Kellogg's cereal. But occasionally they go on sale or I find a coupon for Kashi so I'll buy it. Today I decided to try refrigerated products. I got milk, cottage cheese and yogurt...all of which had coupons.

I must admit I didn't really understand the whole organic 'thing' at first. I thought it was just some new fad for those granola folks. But recently I read an article that discussed a study done on nursing moms milk. Nursing moms that ate more organic foods had lower levels of persistant organic pollutants (like PCBs and dioxins) in their milk. The scientific side of me needed this kind of proof of the benefits of eating organic.

One last thing...organic doesn't necessarily coincide with healthy. I bought organic Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and it's no more healthy than the original. It still has lots of sodium and fat. The beneficial part is that there are no pesticides used in the ingredients. So don't confuse organic with healthy. You still have to read the labels.