From The Grist

NPR’s Guy Raz: What if health care is overhauled and it doesn’t change the American diet in any way?
Michael Pollan: We’ll go broke. If we don’t get a handle on these health care costs, the new system or the old system, we’ll go broke. And that’s why I think that really food is the elephant in the room when we’re talking about health care.

First in The New York Times last week and then on NPR this weekend, Michael Pollan made that point that if we want to fix our health-care system, we have to fix our food system.

From his op-ed in the Times:

[T]he fact that the United States spends twice as much per person as most European countries on health care can be substantially explained, as a study released last month says, by our being fatter. …
That’s why our success in bringing health care costs under control ultimately depends on whether Washington can summon the political will to take on and reform a second, even more powerful industry: the food industry. …
Cheap food is going to be popular as long as the social and environmental costs of that food are charged to the future. There’s lots of money to be made selling fast food and then treating the diseases that fast food causes. One of the leading products of the American food industry has become patients for the American health care industry.

But even with that grim diagnosis, Pollan is optimistic about the future, arguing that if insurance companies are required to accept everyone, as called for by even weak health-reform legislation now in Congress, then the insurance industry will become a powerful ally in fight for better food and against the agribusiness lobby.

Grist’s Tom Laskawy is less optimistic, noting that the poor and the elderly—the most unhealthy groups—are likely to keep getting their health coverage from the government (Medicare, Medicaid, and the VA) and not the insurance industry.

Still, both Pollan and Laskawy are encouraged by New York City’s new anti-soda ad campaign, which Laskawy says is supported by health insurance companies.  Will we see more such public-health campaigns around the country, no matter what happens with health-care reform in Washington, D.C.?

Here’s an ad from NYC’s campaign:

I say low fat milk is as bad a choice as the soda…both are products of corn!    Eat grass fed meat and only eat dairy if it’s organic and straight from the cow!

Michael Bluejay’s site has long been a favorite of mine. I don’t think there is a better blog out there that covers how to conserve electricity. Following is what he wrote about the Whole Foods Boycott.  Now, frankly, I do not shop at Whole Foods for many reasons.  I support local business as much as possible. I realize some folks in some areas of the country have no choices, in Jacksonville, Fl, we do.  I support businesses who keep the money in our community, I support those who treat their employees well, I support those who buy locally as much as possible and I support those businesses who have honest, open corporate practices such as Publix, who do an amazing amount of community service and also truly care about their customers.

I do not support Winn Dixie because of the horrible way they treat their employees; of this I know about personally after working as a Food Service Manager with them.

I do not support Native Sun because of their dishonesty and the way they treat their employees.

The only health food stores in Jacksonville that I do support are Grassroots, Bio-max and The Good Earth.  I have long supported Southern Nutrition but their mostly empty shelves nowadays have made me give up on them. Grassroots is by far my favorite, it has an old fashioned, homey feel to it, it is in way cool 5 Points…and best of all, it’s a great, well stocked store by people who know tier stuff. 

But, back to what Michael has to say about the whole thing..I have to agree.

Whole Foods Market: What’s wrong with Whole Foods?

Whole Foods Market does some good things. For starters, they practically created the modern market for organic foods single-handedly. Organics would likely still be hard to find and a lot more expensive (rather than a little more expensive) were it not for their efforts. Whole Foods also requires its suppliers to meet standards for humane treatment of farm animals, which has greatly improved the lives of millions of creatures. They also support the Fair Trade movement and have a more democratic workplace than can be found in just about any other organization of its size. So giving credit where it’s due, Whole Foods has often been a force for good.

But just because a company sells natural foods doesn’t mean it can do no wrong. Many of Whole Foods’ actions have been controversial, especially where their labor practices are concerned. As the Texas Observer put it, "People shop at Whole Foods not just because it offers organic produce and natural foods, but because it claims to run its business in a way that demonstrates a genuine concern for the community, the environment, and the ‘whole planet,’ in the words of its motto. In reality, Whole Foods has gone on a corporate feeding frenzy in recent years, swallowing rival retailers across the country…. The expansion is driven by a simple and lucrative business strategy: high prices and low wages." (1)

We’re not suggesting that anyone stop shopping at Whole Foods and we’re not calling for any kind of boycott (see sidebar at left) — we just want consumers to realize that even a company that puts on a socially-responsible face doesn’t always live up to its own hype.

Here are fourteen questionable aspects of Whole Foods Market:

(1) Aggressive monopolization. Tons of independent co-ops throughout the country don’t exist any more because Whole Foods bought them out. Whole Foods also absorbed all its significant competitors (Wild Oats, Bread & Circus, Fresh Fields, Bread of Life, Merchant of Vino, Nature’s Heartland, Food for Thought, Harry’s Farmers Market, Mrs. Gooch’s Natural Foods Markets, and U.K.-based Fresh & Wild). (2)  They’ve thus created a near-monopoly in the natural foods grocery business. Consumers are better served by a diversity of stores, but Whole Foods has been trying to wipe out the competition — and has been quite successful at doing so.

(2) Failure to support farmworkers. When United Farm Worker activists passed out literature at an Austin Whole Foods Market, Whole Foods called the cops and had them arrested. Embarrassed by the public outcry, Whole Foods then promised to support the UFW’s grape boycott, but then broke that promise when it moved the store a couple of blocks away, saying the agreement applied only to the old location. They also produced deceptive literature for their customers blasting the farmworkers group and describing farmworker conditions as being no problem at all. About this, the UFW says, "Several major cases have been tried in states such as North Carolina and Florida during recent years where it was found that workers were being kept by their employers in a state of virtual slavery. This is worlds away from the ideal and naïve (and disingenuous) information put out by Whole Foods." (3,4)

(3) Fierceless devotion to profit. It’s not unusual for a business to try to maximize profit. But when the business puts on a socially-responsible face, consumers have the hope that the business will put "Doing the Right Thing" above "Making More Money". That’s not always the case at Whole Foods. It’s precisely why Whole Foods swallows its competitors, sells certain questionable products, and keeps wages as low as possible. Common Dreams says, "A closer look at the company’s business practices and Mackey’s ideas about business and society reveals a vision not that different from a McDonald’s or a Wal-Mart. In fact, the Whole Foods business model is more or less the standard stuff of Fortune 500 ambition. This is a vision of mega-chain retailing that involves strategic swallowing up (or driving out of business) of smaller retail competitors. It is a business model that objectively complements the long-term industrialization of organics (that is, large-scale corporate farms) over small family farms. It is also a vision in which concerns about social responsibility do not necessarily apply where less publicly visible company suppliers are concerned. Subsidiaries of cigarette manufacturers (for example, Altria, owner of Kraft’s organic products) or low-wage exploiters of minority workers (such as California Bottling Co., Inc., makers of Whole Foods’ s private-label water) are apparently welcome partners in this particular eco-corporate version of ‘the sustainable future.’" (2,5)

(4) Refusal to carry only turtle-safe shrimp. When Earth Island Institute asked Whole Foods to carry only shrimp caught in nets certified to protect endangered sea turtles, Whole Foods flatly refused. (1)

(5) CEO posing as someone else on the Internet. For seven years, Whole Foods CEO John Mackey posted on the Yahoo Finance board about his company and its competitors while pretending to be someone else. By trashing rival Wild Oats, their stock price could drop and he could buy them out for less money. Mackey also had the gall to anonymously praise himself. ("I like Mackey’s haircut. I think he looks cute!") (6)  He didn’t stop there: He also criticized specific employees, under the cover of anonymity. Daily Kos said of this, "The very idea of the founder and CEO of a major national corporation hiding behind a pseudonym to lambaste one of his own hourly wage earners on an online message board says something about the personal moral integrity of union-busting executives." (7)  After being discovered, he was unrepentant, trying to justify his behavior in a long blog post, and making a point to say specifically that his actions weren’t unethical. (8, 9)

(6) Poor working conditions. Workers organizing for a union in Madison said, "The ridiculously high turnover rate, wages that are lower than the industry standard, pervasive lack of respect, constant understaffing, absence of a legally-binding grievance procedure, and other poor and unfair labor practices-all of which have led to widespread low morale-highlight the simple fact that workers ultimately have no say in the terms and conditions of their employment at any Whole Foods Market-not just Madison. Workers are not recognized or appreciated for their contributions. Instead, Whole Foods relies on worker apathy and lack of investment in their jobs to keep turnover high, and for the most part, wages, benefits, and other working conditions poor. This environment should be unacceptable for any workplace." (1)

(7) Anti-Union. Whole Foods is so fiercely anti-union it has actually fired employees who were trying to organize one. As Common Dreams says, "Whole Foods matches Wal-Mart in its reputation for corporate anti-unionism. It’s a hostility rooted in a management whose ‘core values’ are intrinsically patrician and antidemocratic. The latter qualities were revealed in all their dismal hypocrisy most forcefully in 2002 when employees of the chain’s Madison, Wisconsin, store voted to unionize and join the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). In a story that caught the attention of the New York Times and other media, Mackey had what might be described as a New Age temper tantrum, treating the specter of collective bargaining at one of his stores as a disaster of almost unspeakable proportions….The yearlong effort to defeat Madison’s first organizing drive revealed Mackey as a "socially enlightened" poseur, a New Age business type who talks about love and ecological footprints and other enlightened things, but who turns to the hard boot of corporate scare tactics and disinformation when confronted with a group of employees who dare to assert their democratic right to self-representation." (1,10)
And "In 2006, after truck drivers working at its San Francisco-based distribution center voted to unionize with the Teamsters. The company fired two of the drivers, altered its sick-leave policy, froze wage increases, refused to provide information to the union that was necessary to negotiate a contract, and ‘harassed and disciplined employees,’ found NLRB investigators, who concluded that ‘Whole Foods engaged in a variety of [illegal] retaliatory measures to discourage union activity.’ An out-of-court settlement required Whole Foods to reinstate the employees and reverse some of its policies." (20)

(8) Low Wages. Whole Foods has been widely criticized for keeping wages low. "Companies such as Whole Foods or other non-union chain competitors are paying many of their hourly employees what in late 1960s dollars would be equivalent to the minimum wage or below." (1) And they can certainly afford to pay more. Whole Foods stores bring in $800 per square foot in a year, double the industry average. (11)

(9) Refusal to come clean on the use of GMO’s and toxic chemicals in its products. "Whole Foods is still not fully transparent about the use of GMOs in store-brand products, and has ignored shareholder requests for information on the use of toxic chemicals in products like baby bottles that are sold in stores." (12)  Whole Foods also asked shareholders to vote against a resolution asking Whole Foods to report about endocrine disruptors and other toxic chemicals in its products. (13)

(10) Selling dangerous food. You might think that with a company that champions healthy eating, anything in their store would be safe to eat. You’d be wrong. Whole Foods sold fish so toxic in mercury that one customer’s blood levels had to be reported to the Center for Disease Control. (17) Whole Foods didn’t start identifying potentially mercury-laden fish in its California stores until the government forced them to do so. Even then, a quarter of Whole Foods stores failed to display proper signage as required by law. (18)

(11) Misleading shoppers about its support of small farmers. Signs at Whole Foods Market say, "Help the Small Farmer — Buying organic supports the small, family farmers that make up a large percentage of organic food producers." What they’re not telling you is that while the number of family farmers is a large percentage of the total, overwhelming majority of organic output comes from corporate farms. As Slate put it: "There are a lot of small, family-run organic farmers, but their share of the organic crop in this country, and of the produce sold at Whole Foods, is minuscule." Slate also pointed out that Whole Foods has pictures and profiles of small organic farmers in their stores, but doesn’t actually carry products from those farmers. (14)

(12) Gagging shareholders. Whole Foods refused to let shareholders speak about shareholder resolutions at its annual meeting. " ‘Given that the annual shareholder meeting is the one time each year that top executives and directors have to show up and be accountable to shareholders, it is unconscionable for companies not to allow proponents to make a short statement in support of their proposals,’ said Beth Young, senior research associate for The Corporate Library (TCL), which assesses corporate governance….’It also seems to flatly contradict the company’s pledge to ‘recognize everyone’s right to be listened to and heard regardless of their point of view,” Mr. Herbert told SocialFunds.com. ‘Whole Foods should recognize that any company that presents itself as socially responsible, as it does, is an easy target for a cynical press and public when it fails to uphold reasonable standards of corporate practice.’" (15)

(13) Obfuscating executive compensation. Forbes magazine says, "Media reports frequently tout Whole Foods’ pay policy, which caps the chief executive’s salary and bonus at 14 times the average worker’s pay. The Wall Street Journal, Slate.com, Harvard Business Review and BusinessWeek have all mentioned the pay cap, generally in favorable terms. But they all omitted one thing: stock options." When you count stock options, Mackey really made close to $3 million, or eighty-two times the average workers’ salary. Forbes continues, "Whole Foods manages to obscure Mackey’s total pay package by ballyhooing the salary cap." A company is certainly entitled to pay its execs whatever it wants, but the issue here is that WF is deceptive about how much its execs actually receive, relative to the lower-paid workers. (16)

(14) Forcing smaller competitors to hand over private financial data. Whole Foods has been trying to force many of its smaller competitors to hand over private sales and financial data about those smaller stores. Whole Foods already holds a massive advantage due to its size, but that’s apparently not enough for them. As one of the harassed smaller groceries put it, "Allowing Whole Foods to look through all of our private information about how we operate and what our plans are for the future unfairly adds to their already large size and financial advantage. We’ve been able to build a successful local business being David against their Goliath, and we’re happy to keep doing that, but we do object to having one hand tied behind our back." (19)

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07.17.09

Three years ago John first wrote There’s A Frog Disruptor In My Soap, including a scary list of products containing the bacteriocide Triclosan. We keep asking Why Is There Still a Frog Disruptor In My Toothpaste? and nothing changes. With the current swine-flu induced hand washing craze, more people are dosing themselves with more Triclosan, even though alcohol-based products work just as well, and Germ Fighters Lead to Hardier Germs.

But this may finally be changing.

Dan Shapley of The Daily Green tells us about a petition has been filed by the Food and Water Watch to the Food and Drug Administration, making the following claims:

The presence of triclosan in the human body (as evidenced by scientificstudies of its activity in blood, urine and breast milk) imposes an immense and dangerous ―body burden. This presence raises concerns about a multitude of threats to humans;

Bacterial resistance to antibiotic medications and antibacterial cleansers is just one category of threats emanating from the growing body burden of triclosan. Suchresistance renders humans (especially vulnerable subpopulations) wide open to bacteria-induced illnesses and death;

Endocrine disruption is another potential result of triclosan bioaccumulation in the body. This effect, in turn, poses serious threats to thyroid and other organ functions, and it can also influence the development of cancer;

Wastewater contamination by triclosan is a serious health threat. Importantly, triclosan products used in the home and in the workplace typically yield residues that flow into wastewater from rinsing, cleaning and other normal activities. Because these residues are not rendered harmless by the wastewater treatment process, they are free to reenter the environment—and ultimately the human body.

And they put this stuff in toothpaste???

The list of organizations supporting the petition is extensive and impressive, and includes the Sierra Club, the Center for Environmental Health, the Natural Resources Defense Council and more. Perhaps the new and improved FDA will finally listen. Read the petition PDF here

Updated List of Products with Triclosan

Food and Water Watch provides an updated list of products that contain Triclosan:

Neutrogena Deep Clean Body Scrub Bar
Lever 2000 Special Moisture Response Bar Soap, Antibacterial
CVS Antibacterial Hand Soap
Dial Liquid Soap, Antibacterial Bar Soap
Softsoap Antibacterial Liquid Hand Soap
Cetaphil Gentle Antibacterial Cleansing Bar
Clearasil Daily Face Wash
Clean & Clear Oil Free Foaming Facial Cleanser
Dawn Complete Antibacterial Dish Liquid
Ajax Antibacterial Dish Liquid
Colgate Total Toothpaste
Right Guard Sport Deodorant
Old Spice Red Zone, High Endurance and Classic Deodorants
Vaseline Intensive Care Antibacterial Hand Lotion

Support Companies That Do Not Use Triclosan

CleanWell
LUSH
Nature’s Gate
Vermont Country
Naked Soap Works
MiEssence
Purell Instant Hand Sanitizer
Ivory
Paul’s Organic
Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps
Tom’s of Maine
The Natural Dentist
Listerine Essential Care
Peelu
Weleda
Toxic Free Basics

More on Triclosan:
There’s A Frog Disruptor In My Soap
Antibacterial Cleaners Do More Harm Than Good

From Treehugger

by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 07.19.09

Hand-me-downs. The very thought brings terror to any new parent who remembers the taunting children suffered for the sin of not having new possessions. We are uncertain already in the face of the daunting task of raising a tiny life to health, wealth and wisdom, without even the benefit of an owner’s manual! How do parents react? Consumerism. Buying new for the baby is a ritual of modern childbirth: new nursery, new car seats, new clothing.

Think again. The German Bundesinstituts für Risikobewertung (BfR, or National Institute for Risk Assessment) has warned that newborns need better consumer protection advocacy. Pediatrician Axel Hahn of the BfR explained: Many parents completely remodel the room for the nursery, without giving thought to the amount of harmful substances newborns face from the new furniture, paint and carpet. The conclusion? Second hand–even for baby clothing–is often the healthier choice.

Second hand articles have had time to naturally lose the dangerous chemicals which are most easily emitted or leached from the articles to which babies are exposed. New furniture, much of which emits formaldehyde from the glues and particle board constituents or chemicals added as flame retardants, will have rid itself of most of the harmful emissions by the time it comes up for second hand sale. Baby clothing has been through enough wash cycles to ensure the chemicals added during textile manufacturing and distribution are gone. And who can remember being upset by a few smudges in the paint or carpeting of their nursery?

The discussion was raised in the context of the seventh Forum for Consumer Protection in Berlin. Children are especially sensitive. They have a much larger ratio of skin surface to body size, respirate more quickly and have faster metabolic rates. Attendees of the forum were unified in the opinion that risk assessments done for adults can no longer be applied also for children.

Specialists at the Forum also discussed better labelling of chemical contents. Currently, only toxic product recipes are required to be reported to the BfR, for example from cleaners. But often the risks of chemicals are due to the sum amount of the exposure, of to exposure to a combination of different substances. The BfR proposes a coded system of disclosure of all chemicals in the products

I have been looking for a long time for 100% recycled drinking glasses. I have found some beautiful ones for about $60 to $70 for 4 glasses!  Jeeez!, way too expensive for the average person…

I found these;

Designed to coordinate with our rings dinnerware.This beverage glass is made from 100% recycled glass and is perfect for juice, milk or a cool glass of water. Slip Resistant. The rings are positioned on the bottom half of the glass making it more slip resistant and the slightly tapered bottom is great for smaller hands.Dishwasher Safe. Not designed for use in Microwave ovens.Holds 12 fl oz.Made in Spain.Measures: 5 1/4" tall.  Due to its inherent nature and unique look, please note that the color of this recycled glass varies from green to light blue and greenfeet cannot guarantee that all pieces or styles will be the same color.

At $2.95 each they are extremely affordable.

Find them on Click here.

There are a few items that I have been still using that are not “green”.  I have been looking for a good alternative to the plastic green kitchen scrubbies…they really work!  I use a loofah, cut in slices, to wash dishes with.  Works great and when I am through with it, it goes into the compost. 

But if a pot or dish has stuck on food that a long soak in water doesn’t work on…I still grab that green thing.  A few days ago I got determined to find an alternative, as my last one is almost dead.  I found this, at- http://www.worldchanging.com/

Biodegradable Dish Scrubbie Eases My Eco-Guilt

Emily Gertz
March 2, 2006 4:04 PM

Sometimes it’s the little things. Sure — it’s gotten easy to find great coffee that’s organic, bird-friendly, and Fair Trade in the average U.S. town or city, and the rBGH-free organic milk to drink it with. But what are the options to clean the coffee stains off of my mug? Usually some plastic scrubbie or abrasive pad — which I’ll have to throw away eventually. Contemplating that little scrubbie’s carbon-emission-intensive journey to some landfill three states away, where it will join gazillions of other throwaway plastic whatsits in eternal unbiodegradable rest, is painful enough to keep my mugs looking dingy.

Enter the Sandclean, a biodegradable scrubbie. "Lasts a long time and does not break, tear or shed pieces which might otherwise remain on dishes or get into food…will not rust or hurt your hands like steel wool. Works great on tea or coffee stains in teapots and cups!" Sounds great! And it even comes in two grits for mild or tough cleaning jobs.

The Sandclean scrubbie isn’t exactly cheap at $7.50 a pop. But it’ll be nice to have stain-free cups without consigning another plastic scrubbie to the landfill.

I also found these at-

"Japanese ""Turtle"" Large Tawashi Vegetable Brush"

Japanese "Turtle" vegetable brushes are known in Japan as tawashi. Each is a completely natural scrub brush made from palm fibers, then is tightly bound with thick wire. It is the perfect utensil for scrubbing root vegetables and other items without bruising the skins. Also excellent for washing pots and pans, especially ones made from cast-iron, earthenware and stainless steel. Tawashi brushes also are fantastic for getting the crevasses of suribachi bowls and sushi mats clean. They are inexpensive and will outlast regular synthetic brushes. They’re even great for scrubbing clean wooden cutting boards, utensils or even bathtubs.

Tawashi Made with 100% Palm Fibers, with a metal hanging loop for easy drying and storage.

Click here to go to their website

This is from http://www.enviroblog.org/

May 28, 2009

Baby products should not contain toxic ingredients, according to common sense as well as 40 + organizations lead by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) co-founded Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

Just last week, the Campaign sent a letter to Johnson and Johnson asking that its products made for children don’t contain hidden carcinogenic contaminants 1,4-dioxane and formaldehyde.

No More Toxic Tub
The action comes after a recent Campaign-sponsored No More Toxic Tub report that found those two contaminants in over 60 percent of the 48 products tested. Both 1,4-dioxane and formaldehyde are known carcinogens and formaldehyde can also trigger skin rashes. Like other toxic ingredients often found in your shampoo, lotion and deodorant, they are not limited in personal care products. In addition, since they are contaminants and not ingredients, they are not disclosed on product labels.

Not breaking the law isn’t good enough when the law is weak
The line of defense for the manufacturers has been the typical "we didn’t break the law" as well as the usual "small doses are insignificant." It is true that companies did not break the law. But it’s also true that the law -

the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) – is so weak that under it, the federal government wasn’t able to ban asbestos! A chemical responsible for at least 10,000 deaths a year in the U.S.

Low doses matter
The small doses are not insignificant because we are all exposed to chemicals in personal care products every day, several times a day. Those exposures are there in addition to exposures to other toxics in food we eat, water we drink, air we breathe and so forth. All of these exposures add up, and could lead to diseases later in life. 
The companies don’t have to use the toxic ingredients, as alternatives are available. Even Johnson and Johnson can make formaldehyde-free products, as they do in Japan.

That’s why we created Skin Deep, a cosmetics database that can help you make informed decisions when it comes to toxic contained in personal care products you use.

Until the law is changed, you can join us and tell Johnson and Johnson that you don’t want these toxic chemicals in your baby’s shampoo and they should take it out!

A few months ago, Colin Beaven printed a article I wrote on his fabulous blog, No Impact Man.  You can read the whole article here-  Thirty-one tips for reducing your impact while saving money.  A reader made this comment….

Alison said…   Thanks so much for the tips! I work with Electrolux and in the spirit of conserving water, have another tip to share: use your dishwasher instead of washing dishes by hand!

I was shocked to find out that it takes an average of 27 gallons of water to wash a load of dishes by hand but only 5 gallons to wash the same size load in a modern dishwasher! That means that a household can save 4,730 gallons of water per year by leaving hand washing in the dust! The Water Savings calculator from Electrolux breaks down results to show the effects of conserving water on a household, town, state and national level: www.electrolux.com/watersavings_us. Hope this helps your readers!

I wanted to address the fact, as I said in my article, that I use tow dishpans, each with slightly more than a gallon of water in each one.  When I am through with that water I pour it on my flower bed.  I use organic dish soap, but still do not use the water on veggies.  Here is a picture of the flower bed, just outside my kitchen where the water goes.  I have never turned on the outside spigot to water these flowers.

I am not using any electricity while I am washing those dishes, I supply the energy!

It is FAR more economical to do the dishes this way; no cost of manufacturing that dishwasher, no paying to transport it to the store, no electricity to run it.  I run my hot water heater a half hour a day, during off-peak hours, it is fully insulated.  This gives me a quick shower, normal use of water for dishwashing, etc.  Most of the year I use the solar shower in my back yard.  I do not use a flush toilet, I use a sawdust toilet.  My water bill is a 1/10 of what it used to be, and I have always been careful!

There’s no comparison!

or·gan·ic;

1. Of, relating to, or derived from living organisms: organic matter.

2. Of, relating to, or affecting a bodily organ: an organic disease.

3. Having properties associated with living organisms.

4. Resembling a living organism in organization or development; interconnected.

Someone commented to me that it wasn’t frugal to eat organically.  I guess that is true for most people who decide to eat the same, the only change being buying all the same “products”, just switching to the organic version.  That will definitely cause a huge increase in the amount you spend each week. 

When I say organic I mean it on a different level than simply switching brands.  I think of it as doing things on the most basic levels, making things from scratch. In other words I buy FOOD, not products.  A bottle of organic salad dressing is expensive.  Make it from scratch and the price falls substantially.  I am also not paying for the packaging it came in.  I often get to Friday, trash day in my neighborhood, with nothing in my trash can to take to the curb.  I buy in bulk, take my cloth bags to the store, use muslin bags for bulk items.  A mango or avocado needs no package, no label.   I feel disconnected from myself and the earth when I buy a box of cereal.  And it’s not organic, not live. When I hold a mango in my hand, it has energy, live nutrients, it screams at you to dive in.  Real organic grass fed beef gives us vitamins and minerals not present in feed-lot animals. To conserve, remember to conserve, feels like loving the earth, myself, all people.  I used cloth diapers for all my kids because the cost was insane in every way, financially, environmentally, how comfy they are.  To buy plastic just to throw it away has always felt like blasphemy to me!  Then there is the money difference, no comparison. 

But buying all organics, buying food that is intensely nutritious is really a great way to save!  The huge difference is in your health. I have had very few doctor bills since I began eating to truly meet my nutrient needs.  Up until 1986, when I stopped eating grains and dairy, I had constant health problems.  At that point I was eating what everyone considered a perfect vegetarian diet.  I got well, and have stayed well, have not had to take any antibiotics whatsoever for anything except when I had ankle surgery. Not one of my children, who range from 8 to 37, has ever had a cavity.  They have rarely needed to go to the doctor. 

68% of Americans are over weight.  That means they are malnourished.  When we eat a traditional human diet, healthy fats, meats, eggs and fruits and vegetables, we meet our nutrient needs, we don’t get sick…which saves a tremendous amount of money on doctor bills, prescriptions, lost days from work.  When we eat well we have plenty of energy which impacts how effective we are as people. It impacts our relationships. It effects how mentally alert we are, how organized we are…and how happy we are.  Not getting enough healthy saturated fats leads to depression, hormone imbalances, an impaired immune system, obesity.  Foods that are nutrient deficient (grains, flours, dairy) take the place in the body from foods that actually make us healthier. 

Eating organically, simply, is good for us and the planet.