The ABCs of Going Organic!

There’s a lot of talk out there about food additives and how they’re affecting our children. I’m not a doctor or a scientist, so I won’t get into the particulars. But if you’ve decided to go organic and are wondering where to begin, I’ve got some help for you. It’s the ABC’s of Going Organic.
ALWAYS READ LABELS
Have you ever wondered if a package says “10% real fruit juice” what the other 90% is? "Natural”, “contains real fruit juice”, “no artificial color” are marketing phrases and can distract us from reading the label to find out what actually IS in the product. In our house we have a complete ban on artificial sweeteners, artificial colors, artificial flavors, artificial preservatives, added hormones, antibiotics and hydrogenated oils! With that said, the only way to know if it's in our food, is to Always Read the Label. And if I don’t recognize an ingredient, I’ll research it. Google and I are good friends. I usually check with more than one source to avoid biased opinions.

About a year ago I picked up a package of sausage and thought “Wow, I didn’t know these were hormone and antibiotic free”. I was ready to put it in the cart when I turned it over and realized that while it was hormone and antibiotic free, it contained sulfites to preserve it. No thank you!

BETTER CHOICES DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
When you can’t make absolute changes, make better choices. Many people quit the whole concept all together because they think it has to be “all or nothing”. I can’t tell you how many x’s people ask me, “so are you totally organic?” Uh, NO.

Look, I do the best I can. I have the same constraints on my time, money, and resources that you do. I'm not a celebrity with money to hire chefs and we don’t live in sunny California where the growing season is all year. That’s why we’re The Everyday Organics – we do the best we can everyday, each day and one day may be better than another. So, If you can’t make the absolute best choice, making a better choice is still beneficial.

For instance, if you can’t purchase all organic fruits and vegetables, at least avoid the “dirty dozen”; those fruits and vegetables known to be high in pesticide residue according to The Environmental Working Group.

Every step toward the best option is a step in the right direction.

CHANGE CAN BE GRADUAL
Instead of dumping the entire pantry out at once, make gradual and steady changes. Why create resistance if you don’t have to. With our family, I started with what I considered the worst offenders: hormones and antibiotics. We ate meat or dairy at almost every meal so that was a big one. I began buying milk from cows not treated with BHT, hormone and antibiotic free meats, and organic eggs from chickens that are cage free and also not given growth hormones or antibiotics. All of which will proudly be labeled on the package!

The next step was buying organic fruits and vegetables and from there, I've been making changes in the pantry. I introduce 1-3 new foods a week to give us time to adjust. We've learned to enjoy the transition, laugh along the way, and give ourselves some slack. So for those of you who want to take this organic thing a step at a time, permission granted!

Enjoy the journey and remember we are Everyday Organics!