Trying to go organic

[berriesweetest]

Since the baby has been born, I am trying to move over to a more natural lifestyle, including organic foods. i homemade all her baby food, too, and her stuff was organic. but now that she is eating with us (11 months today), I want to make sure this keeps up. that means chaning over our food.
any tips? organic is expensive. i can't do a garden since i have no space for it, so if anyone knows what i can get organic and what can be "regular", i'd appreciate it.

[Aimee]

We've been doing that too, and my mom has gone totally nuts with it---she says just from watching jon and kate plus 8 on TLC.

We're doing it a little bit at a time, since our diet used to consist of lots of sugar, soda pop and fast food...
but its working out really well for us, in the transitioning

[Tara]

I read something interesting about what foods are unnecessary to do organic. One of them was bananas, because the peel is so thick that there aren't pesticides or anything getting through. Basically they said anything with thick peels you could probably pass on organic because the difference was minimal. They said the things to definitely do organic were milk, beef, chicken, and fruits with thin peels or those where you ate the peel. HOpe that helps a little. If I can find a link to that article I'll post it for you.

We are trying to do somewhat organic. We never did before Bailey but she just switched over to cow's milk and we do organic for that. However the main reason is the hormones, so we are going to just start getting the hormone-free regular milk at Trader Joe's because it's a lot cheaper!

[berriesweetest]

Hmmm....there is a trader joe's about 30 minutes away, but i don't think it would be cheaper after gas. it sucks because i used to work right by it.
i'd love to see that link if you find it.

[grocerymama]

They said the things to definitely do organic were milk, beef, chicken, and fruits with thin peels or those where you ate the peel.

Thats a huge help there, Tara. Thanks. Focus on the foods that make the biggest difference.

Also, do you have local farmers markets around? You can find organic farmers. They don't have the same overhead cost as grocery stores. You can check your area at localharvest.org.

[Tara]

We do have an organic farmers market but I think it's like 30 minutes away... so by the time we spend an hour driving and use all that gas I might as well pay the grocery store prices Although if I am ever in that area I think I will check it out! It might only be on Saturdays or something though....

[berriesweetest]

good point on gas prices.
i think there is a weekend market by my moms house and she is a mile driving time away. i just ordered my bike trailor, so after it comes in and i have confirmed a farmer's market in the area, i;'ll ride the bike with the baby and bring home some fruit!

[grocerymama]

Wow, that sounds great. I think that would feel really good. I need to get a trailer for my bike. I have a farmers market biking distance from me but it's not open yet. I'm counting down the days though!

[berriesweetest]

if you are interested, check out rei.com. look up the burley honeybee trailor. it is kind of expensive at about $350, but it is CHEAP considering you get all the accessories and it fits 2 kids. i looked at a million others which were almost twice as much for a single with no attachments. so this was a major deal. also, if you have it shipped to rei, it is free shipping and you pick it up from there.
the best is the fact that they return anything fro any reason at any time, so if i "hate it" when buttercup gets her own bike....i get my money back.
 
also keep this in mind...$350 is like, what? seven fill-ups now? this thing will pay for itself the more i use it.

[grocerymama]

Good to know. We have an rei downtown. I might go check that out.
Thanks 

[Tara]

Maybe I need to dig out my bike from college, put air in the tires, and see if I still know how to ride it... lol...

[berriesweetest]

tara,
how funny...

[greentalk]

Hi.  Check out http://www.foodnews.org/ which is from the Enviromental Working Group which list the 12 fruits and veggie to buy if you can't go organic.  Also, see if there is a organic food co-op near you that perhaps you can get some friends to do with you so that you can share the cost.  Good luck. Anna

[grocerymama]

Thanks for the link!

[berriesweetest]

not to sound uneducated...but what is a food co-op?