Why Organic?

Since this all really started as a journey towards getting healthy (aka losing weight) and saving money (aka earning some brownie points with the hubby), what made me decide to go organic? Well, let's rewind a few years (okay, more than a few... but who's counting?) to my required Intro to Environmental Studies class at university.

I was soooo not interested in taking that class. Of course I'd heard about the hole in the ozone layer, but I wasn't really sure how big of a problem it really was and, quite frankly, didn't care anyways. That all changed about two lectures in to this new class that I didn't want to take. It turns out that the environment is in a bit of trouble, thanks to us, and I was actually interested in doing something about it. In fact, I was so interested that I ended up doing a concentration in Environmental Science and had planned on following up that concentration with some graduate work. Well, I did do some graduate work, but in a different field (that's a long story), and while I remained interested in environmental issues, they did take a back seat to some other things that were going on in my personal life - namely, getting married, moving out of my mother's house, finding a "real job", etc.

Anyhow, one of the topics we discussed in my intro class was the environmental impact of mass food production - it's actually pretty bad (I'll probably get into that more in another post). Ever since, I've felt that I should switch to organic, locally made food. While I did make an effort to buy organic when it was convenient, I didn't end up doing much beyond that. But still... I've always had this feeling that organic is best - healthier for me, healthier for the planet. It's just that they don't really make much in the way of organic frozen dinners... and I'm lazy and don't cook, remember? So, when I decided that it's time to really do this whole get healthy thing, the idea of organic came back to me.

When I first made the decision to cook more, my goal was really just that - to cook more. It largely started as a "we can't afford to eat out all the time, so I better start making more homemade meals so that I don't lose my shoe shopping budget" thing. Plus, it had the added benefit of helping me work towards my health and fitness goals. I really do believe that eating food made from real ingredients (meat, vegetables, spices, etc.) is a good step towards becoming more healthy. No, this isn't a fool-proof method, but it is a good start. When my husband and I started talking about potential things we could make, I would always say, "In an ideal world, I'd really like to switch us to organic." In fact, I said this so many times, that it really started to become ingrained in my head that I would actually like to go ahead and do this. I did a little bit of research online ad found out that switching to an organic and/or local diet can actually go a long way towards a more healthful lifestyle (aka losing weight! yay!), as well as a more green, environmentally-friendly lifestyle. I decided that I wanted to know more, so I bought a couple of books, and even though I'm only a couple of chapters into the first book I picked up, the more I read and learn, the more convinced I am that organic and local is the way to go.

I still don't know a whole lot. The idea of organic is still partially just convenient. I don't have to give up chocolate or do any other crazy diet fads that I'll never stick with anyways. I can eat, basically, what I want. Let's face it. I'm picky. I have issues with smells and textures of foods. I like beef. I have a sweet tooth. I'm not ready to jump into the most earth-friendly diet possible. Plain yogurt with active cultures? You can smell that stuff from a mile away, and it doesn't smell good!! If the smell makes me want to hurl, what's eating it going to do to me?? But I can take baby steps. I can buy my beef at the farm market from local beef farmers who raise their cattle in a humane way, feed them grass, and don't pump them full of hormones and antibiotics. Organic, non-homogenized whole milk? I'm willing to give it a go! A whole lot of baby steps can add up to some real progress over time. I'm planning to track that progress here and see where it takes me! You never know where I might end up! I could give up after a few weeks and go back to my lazy, frozen-dinner-consuming self, or it could really pay off. I guess you'll have to keep reading to find out. :)