The conversation about organic food and the price of eating organic has been a hot topic (again) lately. Many people feel that organic food is “unattainable” for everyone, and many people feel that it is too expensive for their family. This is a conversation that I am so passionate about, so this blog series is my attempt to help educate and teach you why organic food is so important and how you can in fact afford it.

Organic food is essential for a healthy body. Conventional food (non-organic) is loaded with pesticides, herbicides, and toxins…and has bene proven to cause disease and illness in the body. You can not wash off these toxins, and ultimately you end up ingesting them. Once ingested it is very difficult for your body to fully eliminate them…often times they get stored in your liver or kidneys along with heavy metals and other toxins. Eating organic is much cheaper than cancer, heart disease, and the variety of other illnesses linked to these pesticides, herbicides and toxins.

It' is not essential that you eat everything organic. The Environmental Working Group releases a list each year of the Dirty Dozen - the foods you should absolutely buy organic - and a list of the Clean Fifteen - the foods you do not have to buy organic, but can if you choose to.

I understand that at some stores organic food is ridiculously priced…$2 for one lemon is crazy!! This is price gouging and is a clear example of companies trying to take advantage of consumers, it drives me crazy. For years Whole Foods was known as “whole paycheck” to some due to their high prices.

I have had a love affair with Whole Foods since 2011, and it is still one of my favorite places to shop. When Whole Foods and Amazon merged I noticed a huge drop in prices, especially if you are an Amazon Prime member. I actually find better deals on organic foods at Whole Foods than I do Publix (equal to a Shop Right, Krogers, Stop n Shop etc), it’s amazing! You would think the “conventional” grocery store would have the cheapest prices, but that is not always the case. It’s important to know where to shop and how to shop. My husband and I love going to the local farmers markets as well to buy organic produce and support local farmers.

I always create a list before going grocery shopping, this keeps me on task and avoids too many unintentional purchases. We shop at three different grocery stores monthly to get everything we need, our weekly go-to’s are Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.

I consider being in the know and grocery shopping part of my job! It helps me to create fun new recipes for all of you, keep my family healthy by practicing what I preach, and find sales for my clients. Truth be told I love grocery shopping! The pandemic ruined that a bit for me, but I have hope that someday we will find our way back to “normal life”. For now I mask up and try to go at off hours to avoid large crowds.

In an effort to provide more free content, and make organic healing food available to more people I am going to be publishing a few recipes on how to feed a family of 4 on a budget…all organic! I understand that the pandemic has hit people really hard financially, and I want to show you that you can still eat healthy (and organic) and stay on budget. Our health is our greatest wealth, and is so vitally important. I hear so many stories about people eating fast food because it is cheap and easy…there is nothing cheap and easy about disease and illness, and it’s my job to help you prevent that.

First recipe comes next week! Stay tuned!