Eating Organic

I really believe eating organic food is one of the best things we can do for ourselves. Not only does the food taste great, but fresh organic produce also tends to contain more nutrition than your conventional produce from your supermarket. This means that your body gets more nutrition from the same foods, just by eating organic. I also think that organic foods generally taste better. Especially when it's very fresh, the food just tastes more alive. After eating mostly organic food for a while, it's really hard to go back to conventional produce...the food just doesn't taste as great.

The Cost of Organic
But--yes, there's always a but--we all know that eating organic costs more. Since we've moved to New York, we've seen a rise in our living expenses, which means we need to be more budget conscious with everything else. Also, with the sudden change in my income, finding ways to save money without sacrificing our health and wellness is becoming a key focus of mine.

Maybe Find an Organic Co-op?
I decided to look around in New York to see if I could find an organic co-op. Perhaps that would be a good way to find cheaper organic food. After looking around, I was a bit disappointed by the prices and by the freshness. Since these smaller places do not get as much traffic as Whole Foods, the produce isn't the freshest and the selection is pretty sparse. I'll have to find another way to get my fresh organic veggies.

Organic Produce Delivery
I went online in search of something better AND cheaper. I used to have fresh organic produce delivered straight to my door when I was living in Chicago by Fresh Picks. The produce was delivered in a box of whatever was in season, and the prices were much cheaper than going to the grocery store. It cost about $25 per box and the produce that came inside is very fresh! I was also introduced to a lot of new vegetables that I never saw at the supermarket. These veggies looked very exotic to me, but definitely very nutritious and fresh. Luckily they also provided recipes with the vegetables so that I know how to prepare them.

I assumed New York must have a similar company. After all, everything is available in New York, right? After some research, I found a company that fit the bill. As soon as we finish eating all the organic food in our fridge from Whole Foods, we're going to try ordering from Urban Organic. I'm really excited that we can now get very fresh, straight from the farm produce for $35. There are other sizes, but I think we'll try the original size. This one gives a lot more produce than what we normally buy for twice the price: 15-18 items, 1-3 pieces of each item! Wow. I'm very excited. And it gets delivered, so I don't have to lug groceries back home from the train every week.

Organic Seeds
I also recently discovered an organic seed company. I was looking for an established reputable company that sells organic, non-GMO seeds so that I could order a whole bunch of vegetable seeds for my parents' new garden. I know I'll also be the recipient of some of their harvest when I go visit them and would love if they only had organic fruits and vegetables. I found a company through an ad, but started to get suspicious because some of their seeds were labeled organic and biodynamic, but the majority had no label at all. There was no section on the website that told me about the company's mission to be organic, or anything about certification. They then started to mention in some of their seed descriptions about how resistant to pests their seeds are. Hmm... sounds like some of this might be genetically modified. I didn't want to take the chance.

I started some research to find a company I could trust, that carried certified organic seeds, only carried 100% organic, and has been around for a long time. And I found the perfect company! The company is called Seeds of Change. There are so many seeds, and so many varieties of each vegetable to choose from. How exciting! I was starting to wish I had a garden just so I could plant some seeds myself. I could have the satisfaction of growing my own organic veggies. I ordered a whole bunch of vegetable seeds, some fruit seeds, and some herb seeds for my parents.

Then, I had an idea. Maybe I could plan a mini urban indoor garden for myself. Even though I do not have much space, I could find enough space to plan an herb garden. Maybe I can squeeze in some extra space for some of my favorite veggies. Why not? There are others who have created gardens while living in urban dwellings. I've been thinking about doing it for several years. I think I'll do it this year! I even found a section of the Seeds of Change website on urban gardening. Maybe you'll consider reconnecting with nature by doing a little gardening too. I'll update you in a future post with a photo of my urban garden and fresh box of produce. :) I'm on my way to a healthier, happier summer.