mensfitness.com— With food prices on the rise, it’s not so easy to pay more for organic choices. Here’s a breakdown of which organic foods are worth buying and which are not.
Aug 27, 2008View in Crawl 4
I accidentally ate some grapes once that were contaminated by pesticides. It's one of the vilest tastes ever, and even the smallest amount takes hours to leave your tastebuds.
As consumers, we are constantly forced to make choices about how and where to spend our hard-earned dollars. These choices become all the more difficult to make when prices on everything from gas to groceries are on the rise. We want to do what is best for ourselves, our families, and our planet, but we also know we need to find ways to cut back. The question is, how do we effectively strike this balance?Some have suggested that we respond to this question by picking certain organic products off store shelves and not others. Doing this, they argue, will help us keep costs down and maximize the personal health benefits that organic products have to offer.While there may be merit in this argument, it misses an important point: buying organic is about more than keeping pesticides out of our bodies. It is about supporting a system of sustainable agricultural management that promotes soil health and fertility through the use of such methods as crop rotation and cover cropping, which nourish plants, foster species diversity, help combat climate change, prevent damage to valuable water resources, and protect farmers and farmers’ families from exposure to harmful chemicals. In this sense, buying organic is about both understanding and commitment: understanding that personal and environmental health are inseparable, and commitment to the bigger, more complex picture of which our personal health is a part.Buying organic is easier and in many ways more affordable than ever before. Not only do organic products appear on store shelves in mainstream retail outlets around the country, but thanks to the introduction of organic private label products, the growth of farmers’ markets selling organic products, and organic’s lack of dependence on petroleum-based farm inputs, the gap between organic and non-organic prices is closing. Indeed, in some cases, the price of organic goods is comparable to non-organic goods, making the decision to “go organic” simple and cost-effective.Do we still have to make choices about which items to buy? Absolutely. But in making this choice, we should think less about crossing certain organic items off our shopping lists and more about how we can achieve positive personal, social and environmental change through the organic purchases we choose to make. We must also give greater thought to the consumption choices we make that are most directly affected by rising fuel costs, such as the cars we drive, the distances we commute, and the temperatures at which we keep our homes. Along with the decision to buy organic products, it is these day-to-day decisions that determine whether we balance not only our checkbooks but our values.
Milk is free of antibiotics... but non-organic milk is not free of the hormones they use to pump up the milk production on cows. That's why we purchase organic milk. A good friend of ours is a pediatrician and has said that many young girls have early puberty because of the hormones in the milk they drink.
Closed AccountAug 27, 2008
That's a good point about peeling vs. eating the skin of the fruit or vegetable.
wunkstaAug 29, 2008
and most people who eat junk food and at fast food constantly have an air of ignorance around them, interesting
wunkstaAug 29, 2008
i dont know why you got dugg down, thats pretty important to know about
wunkstaAug 29, 2008
cooking also destroys a lot of the nutritional content of foodcooking is important to prevent disease but it isnt imperative in all cases
obeliaAug 30, 2008
I accidentally ate some grapes once that were contaminated by pesticides. It's one of the vilest tastes ever, and even the smallest amount takes hours to leave your tastebuds.
organictradeSep 10, 2008
As consumers, we are constantly forced to make choices about how and where to spend our hard-earned dollars. These choices become all the more difficult to make when prices on everything from gas to groceries are on the rise. We want to do what is best for ourselves, our families, and our planet, but we also know we need to find ways to cut back. The question is, how do we effectively strike this balance?Some have suggested that we respond to this question by picking certain organic products off store shelves and not others. Doing this, they argue, will help us keep costs down and maximize the personal health benefits that organic products have to offer.While there may be merit in this argument, it misses an important point: buying organic is about more than keeping pesticides out of our bodies. It is about supporting a system of sustainable agricultural management that promotes soil health and fertility through the use of such methods as crop rotation and cover cropping, which nourish plants, foster species diversity, help combat climate change, prevent damage to valuable water resources, and protect farmers and farmers’ families from exposure to harmful chemicals. In this sense, buying organic is about both understanding and commitment: understanding that personal and environmental health are inseparable, and commitment to the bigger, more complex picture of which our personal health is a part.Buying organic is easier and in many ways more affordable than ever before. Not only do organic products appear on store shelves in mainstream retail outlets around the country, but thanks to the introduction of organic private label products, the growth of farmers’ markets selling organic products, and organic’s lack of dependence on petroleum-based farm inputs, the gap between organic and non-organic prices is closing. Indeed, in some cases, the price of organic goods is comparable to non-organic goods, making the decision to “go organic” simple and cost-effective.Do we still have to make choices about which items to buy? Absolutely. But in making this choice, we should think less about crossing certain organic items off our shopping lists and more about how we can achieve positive personal, social and environmental change through the organic purchases we choose to make. We must also give greater thought to the consumption choices we make that are most directly affected by rising fuel costs, such as the cars we drive, the distances we commute, and the temperatures at which we keep our homes. Along with the decision to buy organic products, it is these day-to-day decisions that determine whether we balance not only our checkbooks but our values.
sqlbyteNov 30, 2008
Organic food in supermarkets and alike is way much expensive then if you buy them from farmers, people are overpricing organic products.<a class="user" href="http://green-organic-food.com/">http://green-organic-food.com/</a>
Closed AccountJan 27, 2009
Milk is free of antibiotics... but non-organic milk is not free of the hormones they use to pump up the milk production on cows. That's why we purchase organic milk. A good friend of ours is a pediatrician and has said that many young girls have early puberty because of the hormones in the milk they drink.
sage87Mar 23, 2009
most grocery stores have organic mac and cheese, usually for like a dollar a box.
shoporganicApr 13, 2009
Great website on 'why organic' - <a class="user" href="http://organicitsworthit.com/">http://organicitsworthit.com/</a>