ORGANIC VS NON-ORGANIC: IS IT REALLY MORE EXPENSIVE?

It is a commonly held belief that organic food costs a lot and has no real advantage over farm-fresh produce and meat at the supermarket. So what is the big deal? Why is there such a big push to buy organic everything, when at first glance, it all seems to look the same?

It is all about the nutrient value of what we are eating and how that affects our body’s health. In the twentieth century, farming went from all organic, where farmers rotated crops and used natural elements like horse manure, ash, and ground bones to fortify their soil and repel pests to using strong poisonous pesticides and herbicides to repel weeds and bugs, genetically modified seed which is capable of growing after the application of literally tons of pesticide/herbicide sprays and can even, in some cases, produce its own pesticide/herbicide. Farmers no longer rotate those crops and, since the seeds are patented farmers are not allowed to collect seed to plant the following year. Instead, they must pay again to buy new seed! Also, if you have an organic crop but GMO seed from an adjacent farmer blows into your field and grows, the owner of that patented seed now owns that field’s crop and you cannot be classed as organic any more. What is the result of this new way of farming?

First off, the combination of GMO seed with no crop rotation, robs the soil of the minerals and other nutrients that your body needs to function optimally, similar to the action of an antibiotic, which happily kills what is making you sick so you can recover, but also kills all the good bacteria that help your body function as a healthy balanced system. There are many studies that look at the effects of GMO crops on the soil.

The situation with meat is a little different, because to be classified as organic, the animal has to be allowed to eat from a natural (untreated, unsprayed and non-GMO) grass or organic source and graze freely (not in a limited small square area of grass) in the outdoors and not be inoculated with growth hormone or antibiotics and such.

Some folks will buy a few organic items when they are on sale. That is definitely a good start. However, gradually, it will benefit your health greatly if you are able to eat mostly or all organic and use organic products on your skin (which is your largest organ and absorbs like a sponge). Chemicals have an effect on us, whether we eat them, breathe them or touch them, and oftentimes our bodies are unable to cope with or process them so they are stored in places like fat, the liver or in the brain, and our body’s defence system gets overworked and confused by these “foreign/unrecognized invaders” and attacks itself leading to complications such as allergies, asthma, arthritis and even brain fog.

The design of our bodies is a phenomenal miracle, when you think about it. It is a balanced, well-ordered system with built-in damage control, healing and re-networking capacity. Whenever we support our own immune system, our body will struggle and then overcome an off-balance situation. But when we fill it with things that are toxic/poisonous or substances disguised as something the body recognizes, our protection system breaks down and starts emergency measures to deal with the intruders. It may heat up or inflame, start to hold extra water, store in fat cells or may calcify a foreign body that it is unable to eject. If our immune system is so busy all day every day with intruders and confusion, it has no forces left to combat large attacks such as viruses and we can get very sick.

Getting nutrients from food and drink as well as from whole food sourced supplements (for those nutrients we are already deficient in or that the body doesn’t create on its own) is critical to vitality. Just like a booming manufacturing business, we are one awesome factory made up of executive teams directing ancillary systems that need a maintenance schedule and expert workers to keep all systems running at peak performance to maintain and grow our profit margin, which for us, is optimal health.

So let’s have a look at prices of organic as compared to non-organic in this week’s Longo’s listings.

ITEM	ORGANIC	NON-ORGANIC	VARIANCE         $	ITEM	ORGANIC	NON-ORGANIC	VARIANCE         $
FRUITS				DAIRY
APPLES-GALA-3 LBS	6.99	5.99	1.00	BUTTER-1 LB	11.49	7.29	4.20
APPLES-G.DELICIOUS-200 G	0.88	1.10	-0.22	CHEESE-CHEDDAR- 340 G	11.49	10.49	1.00
BANANAS-1 KG	2.62	2.69	-0.07	CHEESE-MOZZ-200 G	8.99	5.49	3.50
KIWI-1 LB	3.99	3.49	0.50	CHEESE-STICKS-168 G	6.99	6.99	0.00
LEMONS-1 LB	4.99	3.49	1.50	EGGS-BROWN-12 LARGE	6.49	5.79	0.70
RASPBERRIES-170 G	5.99	4.99	1.00	KEFIR-1 L	4.99	5.29	-0.30
FRESH VEGETABLES				MILK-2%-2 L	6.29	5.49	0.80
AVOCADO	2.99	2.49	0.50	MILK-2%-4 L	9.99	6.49	3.50
BROCCOLI	3.99	2.49	1.50	YOGURT-GREEK-500 G	5.49	4.99	0.50
CARROT-BABY	2.99	1.99	1.00	DRINKS/JUICES
CARROTS	2.99	1.69	1.30	6 GREENS JUICE-355 ML	6.99	3.99	3.00
CAULIFLOWER	5.99	4.99	1.00	COFFEE BEANS 1 LB	16.99	13.99	3.00
GARLIC-180 G	6.99	2.99	4.00	APPLE JUICE-8X200 ML	5.99	2.99	3.00
KALE	3.49	2.49	1.00	APPLE JUICE-1 L	2.99	1.99	1.00
LEEK	5.99	3.99	2.00	SNACKS
ONION-3 LBS	6.99	2.99	4.00	CHEESE PUFFS-113 G	3.19	1.98	1.21
PARSNIP-1 LB	3.99	3.99	0.00	CORN CHIPS-BLUE-240 G	4.99	3.99	1.00
POTATOES-YUKON-5 LB	4..99	4.99	0.00	POPCORN-140 G	4.99	4.79	0.20
RED LEAF LETTUCE	3.99	1.99	2.00	PRETZELS-280 G	3.79	3.99	-0.20
TOMATOES-340 G	4.99	3.29	1.70	BRETON CRACKERS	3.99	3.29	0.70
TOMATOES-GRAPE-PINT	4.99	3.99	1.00	PANTRY
FROZEN FOODS				QUINOA-750 G	9.99	8.97	1.02
BROCCOLI-500 G	4.99	3.79	1.20	MAPLE SYRUP-250 ML	7.99	5.99	2.00
CHICKEN NUGGETS-1 LB	9.99	12.99	-3.00	ROLLED OATS-500 G	3.49	3.49	0.00
POT PIE-213 G	4.49	4.29	0.20	COCONUT OIL-1 LB	11.99	10.49	1.50
MIXED VEG.-500 G	4.99	3.79	1.20	FLOUR-ALL PURPOSE-2 KG	6.99	5.99	1.00
BAKERY				APPLESAUCE-6X113 G	4.29	3.29	1.00
BREAD-BAGUETTE	2.99	1.99	1.00	PEANUT BUTTER-500 G	6.99	3.99	3.00
BREAD-RYE	3.99	3.29	0.70	OLIVE OIL-X VIRGIN=500 ML	12.99	8.99	4.00
BREAD-16 GRAIN	5.49	5.49	0.00	PENNE PASTA-500 G	3.49	2.49	1.00
TOTALS			26.01	TOTALS			41.33

ITEM	ORGANIC	NON-ORGANIC	VARIANCE         $
MEAT AND FISH
BEEF-EXTRA LEAN GROUND SIRLOIN-450 G	11.90	6.99	4.91
BEEF-STEWING-400 G	17.63	7.16	10.47
CHICKEN-BREAST-BONELESS-500 G	15.42	12.67	2.75
CHICKEN- THIGH-1 KG	10.39	7.85	2.54
CHICKEN-WHOLE-1.5 KG	20.04	14.96	5.08
CHICKEN-WING-800 G	10.39	13.99	-3.60
PORK LOIN CENTRE CHOP-BONELESS-450 G	12.40	8.43	3.97
SALMON-ATLANTIC- 4 FILLETS-560 G	28.80	26.99	1.81
SALMON-ATLANTIC SMOKED-100 G	19.98	8.99	10.99
SHRIMP-WHITE EZ PEEL-340 G	16.99	14.99	2.00
TOTALS			40.92

As you can see, there is a difference in cost but it is not as big as you may have thought for many of the items you buy on a regular basis. It is also possible to make a deal with a local organic farmer to get lower prices. Check this out!  www.mamaearth.ca 

Something you may not know is that foods that are nutrient-dense are considerably more filling and satisfying to the body because that is what the body is craving - its nutrients from healthy and balanced whole food sources. Consequently, you will eat smaller portion sizes of organic food. Foods that are low or devoid of the body’s required nutrients will not fill you up and you will crave more, especially sweet, because the body converts all food to a form of sugar in order to use it; it is fooled by unnatural and added sugars which have no nutrient value (such as white sugar, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, maltose, agave syrup, brown rice syrup, fruit juice concentrate), so it craves sweet when it lacks usable fuel, but when it realizes it didn’t get sugar as part of a whole food, it stores that sugar in fat cells and craves more.

You will find that if you have a balanced, nutrient-rich dietary intake, cravings for sweets will diminish and gradually disappear. Also, your waste will be less and all compostable material will not be putting chemicals back into the earth, but, rather, will create more nutrient-rich organic soil.

Check it out for yourself! Do the experiment. Eat all organic for 2 weeks or one month and keep track of the cost and journal your cravings and how you feel. If what is said about the benefits of organic food is true, it will save you “quick sick fix” money at the drugstore.

Here is a sample of a tracking chart so you tell yourself what really happened, rather than count on your memory later to tell you.

Happy healthy eating!

  

WEEKLY TRACKING CHART

WEEK 1	CRAVINGS	FEELING FULL OR SATISFIED AFTER MEAL	THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS
Day 1	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS
Day 2	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS
Day 3	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS
Day 4	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS
Day 5	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS
Day 6	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS
Day 7	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS

WEEKLY TRACKING CHART

WEEK 2	SUGAR CRAVINGS	FEELING FULL OR SATISFIED AFTER MEAL	THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS
Day 1	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS
Day 2	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS
Day 3	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS
Day 4	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS
Day 5	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS
Day 6	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS
Day 7	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS

WEEKLY TRACKING CHART

WEEK 3	SUGAR CRAVINGS	FEELING FULL OR SATISFIED AFTER MEAL	THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS
Day 1	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS
Day 2	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS
Day 3	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS
Day 4	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS
Day 5	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS
Day 6	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS
Day 7	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS

WEEKLY TRACKING CHART

WEEK 4	SUGAR CRAVINGS	FEELING FULL OR SATISFIED AFTER MEAL	THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS
Day 1	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS
Day 2	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS
Day 3	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS
Day 4	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS
Day 5	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS
Day 6	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS
Day 7	MORE SAME LESS	MORE SAME LESS