Why Buy Organics?

Walking through Safeway, I see many new packages with a giant italicized O in the middle of a field of orange, yellow and green. O for organics. They even had organic teddy grahams, which to me, didn’t taste any different than Nabisco’s but of course, healthier. This was not my first experience of purchasing organics. My mom the years prior went crazy with organic foods. The local co-op soon became her favorite grocery store and would often go over just to see what new things the store just put up. Soon, the potato chips in the pantry turned to taro chips, eggs and meat turned organic, and she even found organic shampoo. I have horrible tasting skills and the transformation didn’t taste anything different, nor did I feel any different. At first I was skeptical, why spend all this extra money on something that, I felt at the time, didn’t change anything.

After starting, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, I see how the point of eating is trying to get as much solar energy collected through plants. As opposed to industrial agriculture where everything is mass-produced and ends up drawing energy from fossil fuels instead. As discussed in the book, this new energy also came from the sun, but unlike the sun, is finite. This made me think, do I really want to be feeding off of something other than the energy emitted from the sun? Along with fossil fuels, I am also being exposed to pesticides, preservatives and who knows what.

My mom had always loved gardens. Growing every single vegetable and fruit imaginable would be her dream. With the increasingly small backyards houses have today, she always persisted in changing my dad’s mind to reserve an empty space for her to grow her vegetables. I would always be delighted to see the tomatoes, peppers and berries her hard work produced. Although my dog would often pull the largest bell pepper off its stem and play with it, we were able to use the other vegetables in salads and other dishes. At least I knew for sure some of the food I ate grew directly from sunlight.

The book also mentioned Chicken McNuggets and after watching Supersize Me, I won’t have to question the process chickens go through. Very much unlike organics, various unknown substances are thrown in halfway through the process, mixed with everything else, and deep-fried. It sounds quite appealing, and not to mention the treatment chickens go through, that is even more so.

Now that I look back, I see that it’s true, moms always know best. Even if I did think it was odd at the time.