Organic Whole Foods & Healthy Eating

One of the most important things for me is grocery shopping. The food we feed to our families and the snacks we allow at home are very important.

I don't want to control everything my family eats, especially when not at home, this seems unfair. However, I do want to help them make the right choices or at least better choices.

Everyone gets to pick a few items when grocery shopping or the restaurant we go to occasionally. I will only veto the decision if it is something truly abhorrent. This happens less and less as I think to help the family make better choices has worked. No one is picking out frozen microwaved foods and the junk food is being chosen less and less. Our shopping cart looks more and more like something resembling natural foods every month.

I found these yummy fruits and vegetables here

This mostly has to do with the grocery stores we shop at. It's a subtle hint, but if you do your shopping at a local farmers market, or a good grocery store like Whole Foods, or a co-op, there is simply less crap to be had. Also, I tend to head to the organic section at least twice at the beginning and end of the shopping trip.

Organic food is great, but I do feel some of it is a gimmick. I've read a few articles where certain foods don't really need to be organic because it is rare that chemicals are used while growing them. In other words, you can just avoid foods that are nearly impossible to grow without chemicals. Also, different standards for what is considered organic is important. I always look at the label or for some certification.

Actually, there is a website I use to help me make my decisions when shopping (www.eatingwelll.com). I can't afford to buy everything organic and I've come to realize. Here is the link for 12 foods you should only eat organic. The article says pesticide residues are almost always found on the non-organic foods. Actually, it doesn't surprise me to see a lot of fruits and leafy greens there, but I was surprised the first time I learned how important organic potatoes are. They act like a sponge. I always thought they were safer underground.

Here is the link for 15 foods you don't need to buy organic. I was relieved to see that for corn, onions, avocados, and cabbage, it doesn't really matter. Apparently, pesticide residues are rarely found on these foods.

I don't trust this fully I mean who wants a risk of pesticide residues when you have a choice, but if I'm forced to make a choice it really helps to be informed. I know enough about how foods are grown and what pesticides are, they aren't all super dangerous for people and they aren't all toxic poisons. Perhaps they will kill the bugs soon after they are sprayed, but by the time you wash it and cook it, this is relatively harmless. Farmers have been using pesticides for 80 years now and they have gotten safer and smarter with applications. Our grandparents and parents seemed mostly unaffected. But again, yuck I can do without.

That brings me to my next point, the use of the word 'natural'. I've always thought this means organic and non-GMO. However, it turns out that it can mean a lot of things. Actually, there is little if any control over when this word can be used.

For example, is an organic frozen pizza wrapped in cellophane natural? I doubt that! Don't confuse organic and natural. To me natural also means non-processed. You cannot grow a frozen pizza. However, for things like grains, it becomes a challenge. Is milling grain considered natural? I think so because this is something you can do with ancient tools. Most importantly, there is no chemical reaction taking place to go from wheat to flour. For more information on the confusion over the word natural food, you can look here.