Change For The Better: Going Organic

There once was a girl, we’ll call her Schmicole, and she shopped for all her groceries at Super Wal-Mart to save money. Food shopping for her was easy because she’d simply pick the cheapest brand she could find. On a typical day, you’d likely find conventionally grown fruits and veggies, frozen dinners, generic wheat bread, generic milk, a case of Diet Dr. Thunder, and store brand ground beef in her grocery cart. She would leave the store feeling satisfied that an entire week’s worth of groceries cost no more than $30.

When the whole “green movement” became popular, Schmicole began to notice more people choosing organic foods and every magazine was publishing “The Dirty Dozen”. When Super Wal-Mart began stocking a few organic options, Schmicole considered buying organic; that is, until she saw the price tag—a whopping 30 cents more than the store brand! She quickly dismissed the idea of ever buying organic.

And then she met a boy.

His name was Schmisaac and he was a hippie who didn’t know Super Wal-Mart even sold food. To make matters more complicated, Schmisaac was also a vegetarian. Schmicole wanted to woo her new boyfriend using her culinary skills so she had to begin shopping at Earth Fare and learn how to make tofu. If only she’d known she had him at hello.

At first Schmicole argued with Schmisaac because he wanted to buy everything organic, even bananas! Because she didn’t want to feed Schmisaac food he didn’t feel good about eating, she bit the bullet and filled her grocery cart with all organic items.

Over time, and after reading a few books and watching a few movies, she also began to stock her own fridge with more and more organic foods. Until she came to where she is today—practically unwilling to buy foods that are non-organic or genetically modified.

It isn’t like she can tell much a of difference since making the change—her skin still breaks out, her energy level still varies, and she runs slower than she did when she ate conventionally grown food. But she didn’t make the switch to organic for immediate results. No, she did so because she became convinced that pesticides and other toxins used on crops would likely contribute to or exacerbate health problems at some point in life. She decided that the extra increase in price was worth reducing the risk of neural disorders, Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular, liver, and kidney disease, and chronic fatigue (source). And although she liked her freakishly large apples, the thought of eating a food that was genetically modified and full of toxins made her look at dem apples a bit differently.

Schmicole doesn’t make a lot of money and is still stingy, so she understands why people believe they can’t afford organic food. Afterall, she used to buy all her groceries and Super Wal-Mart to save money! But she learned that life is about sacrifices and decided her health & vitality is more important than cable or frequent clothes shopping or eating out. As she made adjustments to her lifestyle and spending habits, she also realized that making the choice to buy organic is not that expensive. However, knowing that the food you put in your body is grown without toxic chemicals or genetic modification is priceless.

Tagged as: change for the better, earth fare, food toxins, non-gmo, organic food, organic vegetarian, pesticides, super wal-mart