eating organic

I have eaten some organic food for years.  I try to buy fresh eggs, when I can't get fresh eggs I get organic eggs in the supermarket.  The improvement over factory eggs is well worth the price.  I buy organic milk when I can afford it.  I like milk and it is the perfect vehicle for moving toxic materials from the cow to me.   I buy organic vegetables from farmer's markets and stands all summer.

I have never really gotten serious about changing my diet to primarily organic, mostly because I assumed the cost was prohibitive.  But the announcement last week by the FDA that they approved arsenic added to chicken feed was really the last straw for me.  Arsenic is a heavy metal that our bodies cannot get rid of, tiny amounts accumulate and can reach toxic levels.  In the Victorian era women used to eat tiny amount of arsenic to make their skin beautiful, then they died of it.

The FDA approval of this feed hit me in the face with the reality that if I want to eat healthy I have to figure it out myself.  So I have been watching prices and figuring out how to eat primarily organic if possible.  I shop at Safeway, Kings Soopers, which is Kroger in the midwest, and a health food store called Vitamin Cottage.  Here are some things I have come across in the last couple of weeks.

• Organic eggs and milk are cheaper at the health food store than at the grocery. 

• Organic green leaf or red leaf lettuce was cheaper today by the pound than iceberg lettuce at the grocery. 

• Organic carrots, tomatoes, radishes and lots of other veggies are the same price as the industrial food.  

• I tried some organic chicken this week (I want to eat organic but I am not vegan).  I got 4 thighs for the same price as 5 or 6 at the grocery and the taste was unbelievable and I did not have to cut out huge pockets of fat.

• Organic berries at the health food store are right now cheaper than the regular berries at the groceries. 

• The health food store tends to carry more local and more 'in season' produce than the grocery. 

I am growing squash, onions and herbs, all of which will keep for a long time.
I think I can do this.
If you are like me and have dismissed the idea of eating organic because of the cost, go and look at what is available in your area, you might be surprised, I was.