Organic- The 1st Step

So you've decided to start eating better.  Go You!  I'm so proud of you.  But Oh My Goodness is there a lot of information out there.  Seriously, like A SHIT TON.  It's pretty easy to become overwhelmed, so I suggest you just relax and take it one step at a time.

Let me just start by saying, I am no expert.  Really and truly- I am still learning when it comes to our food.  But I do have many years of experience and research under my belt.  We personally made the choice to make some big changes in our diet about 7 years ago when my son started eating solid foods.  Because I'm so passionate about this topic, most folks I know have asked me- where should I start?  So here begins a series of blog posts related to eating organic foods.

Let's start with the movie Food Inc..  Have you watched it?  No?  Well then get on it- this is THE best place to start.  If you're like me and kind of cheap- borrow it for free from your library.  You'll be glad you did.  And please- don't watch it with younger children.

Ok, so you've watched Food Inc.  Bet you're re-thinking that chicken dinner now, am I right?  Scroll down to the bottom of this post to see the chicken portion of Food Inc.  So the next step is to focus on meat and dairy products.  For me and my family, we simply could NOT afford to go all organic at once.  My grocery budget was $100 per week for 4 people and our beloved Lucky Dog.  And this included toiletries and cleaning supplies.  Yeah- organic was out of my budget.  But what I did do was to make some very key changes and I started with our dairy.  Simply commit yourself to buying organic milk from now on.  Yes, it's twice the price but it also doesn't have cow pus in it.  Pretty sure you don't want to be drinking cow pus.  Don't believe me?  Click here to read all about it.

I do not suggest that you switch from cow's milk to almond milk.  Conventional store bought almond milk is stuffed full of yucky chemicals.  Now that's a scientific definition if I ever heard one.  But the point is- regular store bought almond milk is NOT a better choice over organic milk.  So unless you make your own almond milk (seriously super easy to do, see recipe here) or are thinking about buying raw milk from a local farmer- then just break down and buy the expensive organic milk.  By the way, raw milk is illegal in many states.  I have also never personally tried it, although it is on my list of things to do.  This is something you need to research carefully and I simply can't advise one way or another because I have no first hand experience.

Once I was buying organic milk, I added organic eggs and then organic yogurt to mix.  Finally, I ended with organic butter.  Each little baby step adds up.  And let's face it, organic dairy products are super expensive.  So you should feel proud of yourself for these changes.  Plus, doesn't organic butter taste SO good?  Pretty sure it's illegal for it to taste that great, this is what butter is supposed to taste like.  Yum!

Now- these changes added roughly $25 to my weekly grocery bill.  Not too bad.  I couponed like crazy and did my best to cut back in other areas so we could afford this and since we made these changes over time, it didn't seem like so much money.  You can do this!

Click this link to read the next in this series, An Organic Cow is a Special Cow.

And as promised....Click the video below from Food Inc to see what's wrong with your chicken dinner.