Organic Food: Healthy Eating or Expensive Fad?
You want to do what’s best for your family, but how do you define exactly what that means.
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Moms Talk is a weekly feature on all Lehigh Valley Patches in which local parents are invited to share opinions and advice on parenting issues.
This week’s Moms Talk topic comes from Moms Council member Beth Sharpless, who wrestles with the organic vs. “regular” food choice every time she heads to the grocery store. “I know I am constantly asking myself this question and am always putting pressure on myself to provide the best possible food for my family,” Beth says. Beth is curious about whether you're struggling with similar issues in the supermarket and what kinds of foods are making it into your pantry.
So, now it's your turn: What are your thoughts on organic food?
Join the conversation. Each week our Moms Council members discuss these and other issues.
Our Moms Council members include:
- Lisa Amey of Upper Milford Township is a stay-at-home mom to an 8-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl. A past president of the MOMS Club of Emmaus and longtime member of MOPs (Mothers of Preschoolers), Lisa is an Independent Consultant for Arbonne International.
- Lisa Drew of Emmaus is a certified nutritionist and personal trainer, wellness and fitness coach with more than 17 years of experience. She is the mother of a 13-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy.
- Jennifer Elston of Emmaus has almost two decades of professional experience in child development and counseling. She is currently a stay-at-home mom to two beautiful girls. Together with her husband, Chris, she owns Christopher Elston Photography.
- Jeanne Lombardo of Nazareth is the mother of a 10-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl. She’s new to the Lehigh Valley, having moved to Nazareth from Bergen County, NJ in January.
- Lisa Merk of Lower Macungie is a stay-at-home mother of four boys – a 12-year-old and 6-year-old triplets. Lisa is a past president of the MOMS Club of Lower Macungie East. In her “spare” time, Lisa teaches piano to school-age children.
- Megan Patruno of Allentown is a mother of three – an 11-year-old boy, an 8-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy. Megan also works as an admission counselor at Muhlenberg College in Allentown.
- Zoila Bonilla Paul of Bethlehem is a stay-at-home mom to two girls – a 5-year-old and a 14-month-old. Zoila is a member of her local “moms’ club” and says she is “well-versed in the fun that children can bring.”
- Beth Sharpless of Emmaus works part time in a local emergency department as a nurse and part time from home as a customer support specialist. She has two children -- a boy who is almost 2 and a 5-year-old girl. She says they love spending time outdoors and dancing.
If you would like to become a part of the Moms Council and/or have ideas for future Moms Talk questions, please email jennifer.marangos@patch.com.
Related Topics: Children, Leashes, Tethers, and moms talk
LVCI
3:20 pm on Sunday, October 9, 2011
Here's my.. Best Reasons For Organic Foods
http://lehighvalleyclanculariusintrospective.blogspot.com/2011/10/best-reasons-for-organic-foods.html
Lisa Merk
4:12 pm on Sunday, October 9, 2011
While the appeal for buying organic is there for me - I have 4 boys, and 1 income - we buy what we can afford and it ain't organic! I do the best I can with healthly foods, but here is the truth we simply can't afford organic right now.
Lisa Amey
5:05 pm on Sunday, October 9, 2011
I never bothered with organic until about a year ago. Then I made some huge changes after I heard a local physician speak about toxins in our food.
Now I will get organic fruits and vegetables that are on the list of "Dirty Dozen." (Beth, you can find this list easily on the internet. It might help you narrow down which ones might be worth it.) That isn't that many, not all are in season at one time, and I usually can find most of them at a price that is the same or comparable to non-organic. I also try to buy organic cereals and granola, as they also are comparable in price, because of the reduced sugars and no high fructose corn syrup. Another suggestion that I took from this doctor was to switch to organic meats, as regular meats contain toxins that I'd rather eliminate. These definitely are more expensive, but I get them on sale when I can. I also think they are much less fatty and taste better.
Some other types of organic food can taste downright nasty. So if my kids won't eat it, it's definitely not worth it.
I realize not everyone feels organic is better, or can afford it even if they do, and that's okay; I don't preach to anyone about it. These are just the choices I currrently have made for my family.
Jennifer Elston
8:49 pm on Sunday, October 9, 2011
I'm with Lisa Merk. I'd love to say we buy organic but we just can't afford it right now. I do try to buy organic when I can.
Brucelee Deuley
3:22 am on Monday, October 10, 2011
I feel these ladies are selling themselves short...They can not justify not to buy organic for the health of their children and the well being of our earth. In the U.S. we spend a lower percentage of our income on food than any other nation on earth. Save some place else in your budget..Don't sell the health of your kids short so they can wear Nikes to school. What is really more important than the health of our families. Stay away from the dirty dozen at least and buy less meat, just make sure it is grass fed and USDA organic when you do buy it! In the long run you r family and the environment will both be better off for your decisions.
Jessica Burde
8:49 am on Monday, October 10, 2011
I am supporting a family of 5 on $900 a month and $500 worth of food stamps (because even though my 2 older kids spend half the week with me, their father gets all their food stamps). By the end of most months we are scraping by on pasta, beans and canned goods. Telling me not to buy my kids Nike's so they can eat heazlthier is a laugh - I get their shoes at discount stores when family doesn't pitch in to help out. The health of my family is cruucial, and I do buy organic when I can, but you know what is more important to health than organic food? Keeping a roof over our heads and the utilities on.
Elizabeth Rich
8:24 am on Monday, October 10, 2011
If you haven't taken a look at this blog, and you're interested in cheap healthy eating, you should check it out. http://lowincomelocavore.blogspot.com/
Katja Kruppe
10:55 am on Monday, October 10, 2011
We don't buy every food organic, but some foods my son consumes a lot, such as milk, I make sure to buy organic instead. We also grew our own veggies and buy at the local farmers market. If you have an EBT card, you can even use that at the market to purchase tokens to purchase locally grown organic foods. The market is actually not more expensive than produce you can find in stores.
I think organic food is part of a balanced diet, there was a time when organic was the normal way. Most of us grew up with what today is labeled organic food.
It's important to know what you consume. Read labels and make informed choices at the grocery store. Buying unprocessed foods can be just as important and cheaper than buying prepared foods and large boxes of sugary cereal in bulk. Buying fresh more often also makes us less wasteful.
Jeanne
7:37 pm on Monday, October 10, 2011
I think it depends what the food is. I also think that there are so many brands that are unreliable when it comes to actually labeling "organic" things. So, with all that said, I think it is probably a great thing to follow, I myself don't. However, I also think it is something you need to be "versed" in because, as I said, there are a lot of people that use organic very loosely. I do make sure that our milk is hormone free and organic, but I really don't go out of my way to get everything organic, although there are times I would like to change over all of our cabinets with some of the coverage I'm hearing from the media. If I could have my own little compound that was completely self sustaining, I would go organic....but to me, anything else, is just partially taking care of the problems that we incur by ingesting foods from other sources. It's hard - these days, things are getting so complicated, that it feels like no matter what your choices, there's always statistics on something else that could be better than what you thought.
Salisbury Resident
9:18 pm on Monday, October 10, 2011
Organic requires certification by USDA to apply the word to the labeling of their food by growers. How do we know the labels and stickers are not counterfeit? Skeptic here - if not from my garden, the word becomes very vague.