No. 10 // Why I Buy Organic
A well-meaning family member recently forwarded me an article about "seven foods you should never buy organic." It was a thoughtful gesture and I while I appreciated the move to save us a few bucks a month, I thought it was interesting that the perception of buying organic was solely to avoid direct consumption of pesticides. Of course, that's a big part of it but something much larger was being missed.
When I buy an organic avocado (which was on the list), I'm not only choosing to avoid pesticide exposure for my family and myself, but for the farm workers, the people processing the avocados and the entire ecosystem affected by such uses. I'm voting with my wallet and the extra few cents I may spend to let the growers know what practices I support (and which I don't). Money talks.
Those of us buying organic are not alone. Just take a look around big box retailers like Target and Costco and you'll see, the tides are turning on consumer demand for organic products. A few years ago, there were maybe one or two organic options and now there are entire sections dedicated to a cleaner method of agriculture.
And while organics can be a little more expensive, there are many ways to go organic on a shoestring. For example, going directly to the grower at your local farmers market or joining a food co-op can provide cost-savings while helping to support your local farmers. If those options aren't available to you, there are many discount retailers like Costco or Aldi which are offering organics at competitive prices. And if you want to really save, you can grow your own organic garden with little money or effort and a lot of return (https://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/garden/beginners-guide-organic-gardening).
So, I will continue to choose organic for the benefit of my family, the people who grow and process our food and, ultimately, for our planet which bears the greatest burden of "conventional" agriculture. I look forward to a day when organic is considered completely conventional. //