Howdy Ya'll!
Well I haven't forgotten about the blog world we have just been B.U.S.Y!!! We are in the process of moving, not far, only about 15 min. away actually, BUT moving with a 14th old is nothing short of absolutely exhausting.
With all the moving chaos I'm sad to report that Noah had fast food for the first time... oh it broke my little heart. Of course he LOVED the grilled chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-a, i'm sure because of all that yummy salt haha. I'm happy to report though, that even with all of the chaos, he still has been munching away on his veggies as usual. One morning he even wanted green beans for breakfast... yup, breakfast. Which just goes to show that our food preferences, or societal norms cannot compete with the physiological predisposition humans have for plants.. It was kinda' weird, and actually really awesome haha.
Now onto the topic at hand, buying organic versus buying conventionally grown foods can be confusing, and honestly annoying at times. It's confusing because some people swear that if you don't eat organic you will shrivel up and die from pesticide poisoning. Others state that there really isn't any conclusive hard core evidence stating that it is 1,000% better... It also can be annoying at times because it is SO MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE!!! I personally feel like the prices have gotten a little more reasonable though. I shop at HEB, and they have come out with their own brand of organic products that are very reasonably priced. In part 2 of buying organic, I plan to take pictures and compare prices and the overall bill in my local grocery store. For right now, I feel like the most important thing is to pick your battles, and be knowledgeable about which foods are actually worth the extra money. It is broken down into two categories. The "Dirty Dozen" and the "Clean Fifteen". The dirty dozen, as you see below, are the foods that should be purchased organic whenever possible, because they have been tested, and traces of pesticides have been found on a regular basis. Again their is no evidence that these pesticides absolutely hurt humans, however, with our dear ones' little bodies of course everything would be more potent in them.
The next group is the "Clean Fifteen", feel free to buy the below foods organic as well, but know this may be an area where you can save a few bucks and spend it on the other dirty dozen. * Side Note: No this is not a conversation about GMOs by the way, those are completely different, and I will talk about them at another time.
This is a great article that addresses if buying organic produce is really worth it or not... it tries to say it isn't, but can't really make that statement concretely. I personally buy as much organic as I can, while staying in my monthly grocery budget. Of course I do try and stick to buying the "Dirty Dozen" organic, and then meat if I can.
Speaking of meat... Now, I would attack the organic meat topic, but following article does it beautifully, so I will let you read it. Click here to read. Personally if there is anywhere that I would encourage you to consider spending your extra bucks, it would be on organic meat. OMG if you have ever seen a documentary on how meat is processed in America it will make you throw up. I'm certainly a meat eater, and I'm not a member of PETA, but it's interesting to say the least. My family has always had a ranch, and my husband has been able to kill a dear and process the meat at least once a year. One dear processed actually keeps us stocked with meat for about 4-6mths! Honestly, that is THE healthiest thing you could possibly do. When you know EXACTLY where your meat came from, and what it ate, you are getting the best of the best. So ladies with husbands who hunt or fish, give them a break and enjoy your significantly more nutritious protein at the dinner table. The following table is from the link above, and compares the nutritional value between beef. There IS a noticeable nutritional difference when it comes to meat, just take a look..
Also don't be fooled, just because a food says 'Natural' does NOT mean it is organic. You have to see the cute little USDA Organic label on something to know it is the real stuff. Truth: It is my goal in life to get those DISHONEST MARKETERS AHHHhhhhh!!! haha
I think I'm going to stop here ... there really is SO much to discuss on this topic, and I will revisit it later in "Buying Organic - Part 2". Hope you all have a wonderful week, and are gearing up for the holidays.
Love & Blessings,
The Veggie Momma
