Greening Your House

Lifescript.com has a good article on greening up your home with organic and chemical-free choices.

I'm always looking for ways to stop using chemicals and using more "eco-friendly" products. When I got my carpets cleaned over the summer, the cleaner told me about using vinegar to clean just about everything from floors to counters to mirrors. Needless to say, we are buying the economy size container of vinegar these days, and I like the results. My floors aren't sticky from the chemical products, and the house doesn't have that "chemical smell" you get from other kinds of cleaners. Check out the Lifescript article for more ways to save the planet and improve your health.

Organics to Replace Big Agra?

A study out of Denmark says that a shift to large-scale organic farming could help feed the poor and be good for the environment.

Crop yields initially can drop as much as 50 percent when industrialized, conventional agriculture using chemical fertilizers and pesticides is converted to organic. While such decreases often even out over time, the figures have kept the organic movement largely on the sidelines of discussions about feeding the hungry.

Researchers in Denmark found, however, that food security for sub-Saharan Africa would not be seriously harmed if 50 percent of agricultural land in the food exporting regions of Europe and North America were converted to organic by 2020.

While total food production would fall, the amount per crop would be much smaller than previously assumed, and the resulting rise in world food prices could be mitigated by improvements in the land and other benefits, the study found.

I'm always curious when these studies blithely blip over "food prices could rise." My question is, "how much?" If a loaf of bread goes from $1.80 to $5, that's a rise that would severely hurt the poor.

I am impressed that the scientists have come up with a model that wouldn't have us starving millions to switch to organic farming. One of the concerns I've had about organics and trying to buy only organics is the expense involved, and I've questioned whether switching large farms could be practical. This study seems to support the idea that we could produce roughly as much food and not use harmful chemicals. That is good news!

Organic farming 'no better for the environment,' Report Says

According to a British government report, organic farming may be no better for the environment than industrial farming, and, in some cases, may be worse.

The first comprehensive study of the environmental impact of food production found there was "insufficient evidence" to say organic produce has fewer ecological side-effects than other farming methods.

The 200-page document will reignite the debate surrounding Britain's £1.6bn organic food industry which experienced a 30 per cent growth in sales last year.

David Miliband, the Environment Secretary, drew a furious response from growers last month when he suggested organic food was a "lifestyle choice" with no conclusive evidence it was nutritionally superior.

Sir David King, the Government's chief scientist, also told The Independent he agreed that organic food was no safer than chemically-treated food.

Shh! Don't tell my husband this or I'll never get him to eat the bison. ;)

More Fun with Food

Ever since I decided to start eating and feeding my family better food, I've had some interesting revelations.

1. Finding good food takes more time. I've always liked grocery shopping because I like browsing through the goods and deciding which things I want to buy this visit. Now every purchase is rife with meaning--politically, socially, economically, ethically. And stemming from this revelation...

2. We are the most blessed society on earth. I have literally hundreds of choices I can make in any given grocery trip. From the kind of meat I buy, to which sauces I want to use to what sort of shampoo, cleansers and assorted sundries I desire, there are more choices available in the average American supermarket than some villages and towns have in other parts of the world. The amazing variety on display makes me think about women in other countries who must deal with many burdens, both physically and socially, to bring food to their family table. That we have such largesse is amazing and humbling. We should find ways to give and help more of those who aren't as fortunate, either directly through charity work (food pantries and kitchens) or indirectly through gifts to programs in other parts of the world.

3. The choices we make can be overwhelming. Natural or pasture fed? Free range or cage free? Organic or all natural? The words on the labels are frequently confusing (sometimes intentionally) and trying to make the best choices is difficult. I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that the best way to go is either growing it yourself (so you know what you used) or buying directly from farmers whom you trust (and finding one can be a chore in itself).

4. Falling off the wagon is incredibly easy. It's so much easier to run down to the local Wal-Mart to pick up the odds and ends I need or to make my grocery trip a quick one. Going to Whole Foods or Central Market is a 20 minute trip one way and usually requires more planning. Besides the planning there is the costs, since organics tend to be two or three times the cost of conventional food. Readjusting one's budget can be tricky. Right now, I'm focusing on natural, pasture-fed beef and organically grown veggies. Finding chicken that hasn't been stuck in cages is more difficult. Everything else is bought where I happen to be. It's the best I can do ATM.

5. Organic food can taste different and sometimes different isn't better. I'm still in the process of converting my family to more organic food. With a husband, a teenager, and two younger kids, this can be a challenge. The younger ones don't want to touch anything that isn't McNugget-shaped and my husband is convinced that, since he likes the way his regular food tastes, changing to something healthier that doesn't taste the same isn't worth the effort. The only clear ally I have is, believe it or not, my teenager. She is an athlete and is very much into eating the proper foods and watching what she eats and drinks. While all of them make fun of me for wanting to buy milk that comes from "cows dancing in the fields," she is most supportive of the change.

I never thought buying food would evoke such wide-ranging emotions from me, but watching an ad for Cargill during the Super Bowl (it was one with happy farm animals who were prodding their farmer to buy more Cargill feed) made me a little agitated. I launched into a monologue about how farm animals don't want animal feed, but usually desire grasses and other food sources that they are built to eat.

It's realizing the deceptiveness of those ads that steel my resolve, even if it is jusst in my little corner of the universe.