Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.
Too many of us use organic foods as the new health standard, claiming them be well worth the extra cost to keep ourselves and our families healthy and safe. This is exactly what the marketing giants want you to believe. 'Organics' have jumped to the highest grossing food market in the past five years. The cooperate giants like Kraft, General Mills and Nestle have realized the income potential and have eagerly jumped on the 'organic bandwagon,' either buying out the small natural food manufactures like Cascadia Farms, OR they created their own Organics lines. Case and point, entering from stage left, the new and improved, healthier....Organic Oreos!?!
This might seem like a great thing at first glance. There is great satisfaction in the aisles of the grocery store when you are reunited with a healthier version of your old familiar friend. It seems like such a good idea. But one cannot help but to ask: What exactly is an Organic Oreo? Organic Coke? Or an or an Organic Cheeto? Well unfortunately, we are being sold the same items that have destroyed the health of our society plaguing us with an overwhelming obesity epidemic.(Now in a shiny new organic package with newly improved organic ingredients such as Organic: sugar, milk, flour,and hydrogenated oils). So its basically the same food only slighly fancier and more'Organic'.
Here's a breakthrough thought, maybe instead of resorting to the so-called healthier versions of the same junk foods, we should be CHANGING the way we eat.( Now that is a novel idea!) Instead of justifying our actions and being proud of the fact that we are now eating 'healthier and organic' we should stop one second and ask ourselves, what we are REALLY eating? Organic ice cream is absolutely dreamy and fantastic, but it is STILL ice cream! Organic cookies, chips, chocolate, power bars, pizza, burritos... all remain the SAME foods. Sugar is still sugar anyway you want to put it, organic or not(although organic may be less processed) it is still sugar. Hydrogenated oils are still hydrogenated oils. Somehow I think we as a society have gotten so backward in our thinking believing that all things 'organic' come with a golden halo, free of ' food sin'-this simply is not true. When you chose to eat organic food, it DOES have a potential for better ingredients free of pesticides, chemicals, and GMO's, but if you are buying organic processed junk foods you are missing the point.
NEWSFLASH: These organic foods may be a healthier version of the same junk food with new shiny 'Organic' text written across the front so you think you are eating healthier, but are you? WAKE UP! We are smarter then this!
So the next time you are out at your grocery store, co- op or Trader Joe's, please pay attention, don't fall for the organic labeling trap. We have got to act smarter.We have to bring our ' A Game' and navigate the aisles of our grocery stores like unyielding food wizards!* HA!* Just because the label says that a food is ' all natural' or 'organic' please read the label, pay attention and ask yourself: Is this food going to nourish my body supplying it with nutrients, or is it simply going to satiate my sweet tooth or snack craving?
Together we can bring on food change by educating each other, demanding higher standards and choosing our food wisely. Be EMPOWERED! Together we can create a healthier future for ourselves and our families.
Cheers to GOOD FOOD AND EPIC HEALTH!!!
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