No, you dirty birds, not THAT "O" word...I'm talking about organic food!

One of my New Year's resolutions was to reduce the amount of processed foods that we eat. Since then, I've switched over to buying as much organic food as possible. Our local Genuardi's supermarket recently introduced their house brand, called "O Organics" that is very reasonably priced and widely available as substitutes for many types of food. For example, if you were to open my pantry today, you'd see the following organic foods:

tomato paste
tomato sauce
macaroni and cheese
pasta
ketchup
chicken, beef, and vegetable stock
canned veggies

And if you opened my refrigerator, you'd see organic eggs, milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, and fresh vegetables.

The only thing I haven't switched yet is fresh meat and poultry. I'm still searching for the best prices on this stuff, because it is REALLY expensive at the supermarkets I patronize. This morning on my loooong commute to work, it occurred to me that perhaps I should contact some of my local farms to see if their livestock is raised without hormones and antibiotics. It would be even better if the livestock was free-range or cage-free.

There are three major reasons why I've switched to organics. First of all, organic food is thought to be healthier than foods that have been treated with pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, or have in any way been genetically engineered or tampered with. There's been a lot of research indicating that organically-produced foods contain less toxic nitrates and higher concentrations of vitamins and minerals than conventionally produced foods.

Second, I personally believe that organic food tastes better. Of course, this could be simply the power of suggestion at work. Perhaps someday (when I'm truly bored) I will conduct some kind of double-blind taste tests to prove my theory.

Third, products from animals who were raised in an organically friendly environment makes me feel better. I swear I'm not some kind of covert PETA member, but if I have to eat animals, at least I know they enjoyed their lives before ending up on my dinner plate. That the hens who produced the eggs in my omelette are allowed to wander freely and weren't injected with growth hormones or antibiotics to increase the size or production rate of their eggs. That the cow who is now my medium-rare filet mignon could freely feed in a huge pasture, and wasn't miserably confined to a barn for its entire life.

I would love to hear from others about this. Brian thinks I'm a little crazy (that is, when he's not bitching to me about the higher grocery bill), but to hell with him! Do you think organic food is the wave of the future, or just the trendy thing at the moment?

Labels: food, money, shopping