To Be Or Not To Be Organic
by Debbie Nikkel
Description: The pro's and con's of eating organic foods.
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To be organic or not to be is the million dollar question in
our home.
The birth of my son prompted me to be more responsible in my
eating
habits. My first step was to cut out processed foods and to start
using
my kitchen as a place to cook and not just reheat the meals. I
started
to save several dollars on my grocery list and the food actually
tasted
better. Sure, I had some really aagh meals but I learned from my
mistakes and everyone seems to be complimenting me on my
culinary skills. Justin, my son, was to be born in a home that
only
used the finest ingredients, where everything was made by my own
hands. Little did I know that this was just the beginning and the
research process on excellent high nutritional food would be a
struggle.
I was a smart consumer, I read the back of packages and
tried to buy home grown produce and products made in my country.
I
stayed away from food colouring in my food and would seldom bend
to
the marketing wizards out there. Wrong, how wrong I was. The
marketing wizards caught me by placing magical words on their
products, such as natural, wholesome... The ingredients listed on
the
packages were not foreign, unusually long chemical names. My
purchases used simple ingredients such as flour, sugar, baking
powder, dehydrated vegetables..., the list goes on. I knew the
difference between organic and non organic. Organic is grown
without
pesticide and non organic is grown with the aid of pesticide.
Back to the computer and books to find out the real truth
between organic and
non organic. Most of the grocery stores I would go to only sold
natural, fresh from the farm produce. What they failed to inform
us, is
that these products are grown with the aid of pesticides. They
neglect
to label the pesticides used for each product or the possible
side
effects caused by that chemical. As well, there is no literature
on how
to properly clean the vegetables to reduce the pesticide residue.
The
only literature says to wash all produce thoroughly before using
raw or
cooked. Are they serious? Wash it under water and wow! magically
it
is nutritional vegetables. I had a revelation a couple of weeks
ago on
my eating habits and I am making conscious choices. I am no
longer
believing the ads, until I have thoroughly researched the
information.
Back to the question, organic or not. I chose organic and only
organic. You may say the biggest con is the expense. That is a
big
problem because many of us are on a tight budget and introducing
organic to the family is an expense we can do without. If you
think
your income is not sufficient - Think again. I am a stay at home
mom
with one child living in a one bedroom home trying desperately to
save
for a home, to give me the luxury to harvest a garden. Organic is
a
difficult transition but one that is well worth the heartache.
Web Links to Aid You in Search of an Answer
Reprinted with permission.
