The Organic Challenge...and a compromise

Buying organic can be done for many reasons, political, health and environmental are probably the big three. It is however expensive. While there are a number of very good explanations of this cost and very good justifications of this cost, it stands as one of the obstacles. If the option is either to buy organic or not I think many folks will opt for 'not.' There is a middle ground however.

When I was at the farm, Sarah recommended checking out the Environmental Working Group's site since they have a Shopping Guide to organic produce (there's also an iDevice app called "Dirty Dozen"). The guide features a 'dirty dozen' which are the highest risk veges and a 'clean fifteen' which are the least risky veges. This allows the shopper some level of compromise.

Start small, I certainly haven't made a full switch. I shift things around each week looking for a way to save a little money here so I can buy a better quality ingredient over there. While its a lot of work initially (my way anyway) it will quickly curtail junk food and take out. If you're going to commit to spending $7 a gallon for milk you're probably not also going to buy a bag of chips. The chips aren't necessary and so they're cut. Treats become more seldom (nice to have but not necessary). Lately, for me its been cheese. Its a lovely item, but nonorganic cheese is made with nonorganic milk which comes from nonorganic cows. Cheese is expensive (by cheese I do not include american or velveeta etc) whether its organic or not and its used a fair amount in modern cooking. When moving to organic cheese the prices are even higher so what do you do? Eat less of it.

Eating less processed foods, eating less meat, less fatty foods (still eating them, just less often and buying from sustainable practices) only stands to benefit your health and your wallet.

I'm not there yet, but I firmly believe its possible to buy safe healthy food and eat very well on a budget. In any event, this guide is really helpful and reduces some of the anxiety of not being able to do everything at once.

Now to find a list for foods in general.