BUY SMART : Part 3 of KNOW YOUR FOOD : 10 Easy Ways to Living Affordably Organic

We’re nearing the end of Week 1 of my 10-week series on 10 Easy Ways to Live Affordably Organic.  (Did you visit your farmers market this week?)  

Quick re-cap... KNOWING your food means understanding:

WHEN to buy your food – Seasonally!

WHERE to buy your food – Locally!

Now… WHAT should you buy?  Does ALL your produce need to be organic?

(drum roll…)

Nope.  Absolutely not.

What?!?! It's true!

Some conventionally grown produce that has little or NO pesticide residue, otherwise known as the The Clean Dozen.  Typically this food may have thicker skin (avocados, sweet corn) or needs much less chemical pest management than other fruits and veggies.

Here’s the list:

The CLEAN Dozen

Asparagus

Avocadoes (less than 10% tested positive)

Cabbage

Eggplant

Kiwis

Mangoes

Onions

Papayas

Pineapples

Sweet corn

Sweet peas

Bananas

Other fruits and veggies are VERY high in pesticides so steer clear and ONLY buy organically. Check it out:

Top fruits to buy organic:

1. Cranberries

2. Nectarines

3. Peaches (96.7% of samples tested positive for pesticides...  Yikes.)

4. Strawberries

5. Pears

6. Apples

7. Cherries

8. Cantaloupe

9. Tomatoes

10. Grapes – especially imported (Watch out for any "imported organics" since other countries' organic standards do not meet the United States Department of Agriculture organic standards.)

Top veggies to buy organic:

1. Green Beans

2. Sweet Bell Peppers (Especially costly at stores. They’re great example of food that’s better to grow yourself! Very easy to grow in pots on your back deck or porch!)

3. Celery

4. Cucumber

5. Potatoes

6. Peas

7. Lettuce & Spinach

8. Broccoli

9. Carrots

Save yourself some cash by buying safe, conventionally grown food (like bananas) instead of buying organic.  Why pay .80/lb for organic bananas when you can buy for .49/lb conventionally? Same with avocados…  A conventionally grown avocado will run you $1.-1.49/each and the organic ones are nearly twice that. Buy smart.

Join me on Wednesday for Week 2 of 10 Easy Ways to Living Affordably Organic!

The topic?  AVOID "READY MADE" and PROCESSED FOODS.  (Just say NO.  Really.)

Organically yours,

-Minde

 We grow some of our tomatoes in pots on the back deck. 

(Those fun lime green planters: upside down step stools from Ikea!)

A pic of last year's Roma tomatoes...  One of our faves...

Get your children in on the tomato-growing action!  They love to get dirty!

Many sources were used for post including The Daily Green, 

The Environmental Working Group 

and The Food Network.

Get Local - Part 2 of KNOW YOUR FOOD

Welcome back to KNOW YOUR FOOD, the first part in a 10-week series in 10 Easy Ways to Living Affordably Organic...

So, we know that the first step to knowing your food is understanding WHEN to buy your food – seasonally. 

The second part of the equation is knowing WHERE to buy your organic food. 

Two words:

BUY LOCAL. 

This goes hand-in-hand with buying seasonally since all of your local organic produce will be seasonal.

The best and easiest way to eat locally is to source out your in-season fruits and veggie from your local farmer.  (He/she can be found at your local farmer’s market.) The food is fresher, tastes great and is better for you.  The best and freshest organic food is what’s grown closest to you.

There are a couple super useful online resources that can help you find the best local food: 

Local Harvest - Use this website to find farmers' markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area, where you can buy produce, grass-fed meats, and many other goodies.

Atlanta Magazine’s Market Watch – This is a good example of a regional guide to the best sources of fresh produce and locally produced foods.  Try a search for “local foods”  or “farmers market in (INSERT YOUR CITY)” to find similar results.

Next up in KNOW YOUR FOOD: 

WHAT to buy?  Does ALL your produce need to be organic?  NOPE.  Surprised?  More details in my next post.


Where's your favorite local place to buy organics?  I want to hear about it!

Organically yours,

Minde

One of our favorites things to do: Visit our Farmers Market.  :)

There's a Reason to Buy in Season (#1: KNOW YOUR FOOD)

Welcome to the first installment in a 10-week series:

10 Easy Ways to Live Affordably Organic!  

Every Wednesday I’ll post a tip, then later in the week we'll delve a little deeper on how these tips work, providing real-world experience and successes. Good?  Let's get Affordably Organic.

First up: 

#1:  KNOW YOUR FOOD.

What does that mean??

It means you need to know:

- WHEN to buy

- WHERE to buy

- WHAT to buy organic  (…or NOT. Yup, some items are safe to conventionally, which mean non-organically.)

Let's start with WHEN to buy your food....

Buy seasonally. This means to buy your food when it's at the peak of it's natural season.

Strawberries in December?  Not in my state.  

Apples in May?  Nope.  

Tomatoes in January?  Not on your life. (shudder)

OUT of season fruits and vegetables are expensive.  Out of season food will cost two to three times more than if you buy it IN season.  (Curb that February cucumber craving!)  

My children used to beg me for blueberries in the dead of winter…. when they cost at least $6.00 for a teeny, little, measly pint.  (Youch.)  The berries came from somewhere far, far away where it was warm enough to grow blueberries (or grown in a hot house) and they pretty much tasted like mush.  

Expensive + not at all tasty = bad combo.  (Blech.)

So, I explained to my kiddos that blueberries are best only during certain months of the year. Somehow knowing that that blueberries aren't readily available make them an extra special treat. (Truly "forbidden fruit"!) Now they look forward to blueberry season and, more importantly, know when it is.  (A great lesson for kids:  Teach them your state's harvest calendar then take a tour through your grocery and let them tell you what's good to buy.)  In-season blueberries are easy to find, taste great and are affordable. Win, win, win. (Winning!  O.k., enough of the pop culture references…)

Use this handy interactive Peak Season map from Epicurious to find out what’s available during any given season in your area.  This easy-to-use tool also gives ingredient descriptions plus fun recipes.  

Next up in KNOW YOUR FOOD:  

WHERE should you buy your food?

Organically yours,

-Minde

Blueberry picking with the kiddos in July in Georgia...  

I can hardly wait 4 months to do it again! 

Affirmed

I’m baaaack. :)

And tired. And happy.  The Georgia Organics annual conference was filled with incredibly enlightened and forward-thinking farmers, consumers, market managers and organic food lovers.  I gleaned bushels of info and enjoyed rubbing elbows and learning from folks that are bringing real, organic food to our tables. 

What deeply resonated with many folks and dominated many of my conversations was “how are we going to afford it?”

I was thrilled and extremely humbled to see my “Affordably Organic” session fill up and nearly bust at the seams. (Standing room only!  Wow!) It was a privilege to share my real-world experiences about how we feed our family organics on a budget.  After the presentation people asked really thoughtful questions, we had some laughs (do I really have 20 chickens in my freezer?  Um, YES.), then many stayed after to share personal experiences, learn more and exchange info. The large and enthusiastic crowd confirmed what I already knew: People understand the importance of eating organics and, even with tight budgets, are eager to find creative ways to make it a lifelong and viable lifestyle choice. (You can do it!)

A huge THANK YOU to all the folks that came out to learn about living Affordably Organic!!  Please drop me a line for the recipes mentioned during the presentation and I’ll send them along.  Affordablyorganic (at) gmail (dot) com

Next week we'll start a series: 10 Easy Ways to Live Affordably Organic. I'll share the methods that I've honed over the last few years that allow me to feed my family of four an almost entirely organic diet on an extremely tight budget.

First up: 

KNOW YOUR FOOD.  

(Really, how *well* do you know your food...?  Well, we're about to find out...)

Organically yours,

-Minde

Below are some fun photos of the conference...  Food, of course...  :)

Yes, even the sugar for our coffee, tea, etc. was organic.  

One of the opening day breakfast buffets.  Eggs and granola and cereal and fruit and 

yogurt and jams and nut butters - oh my!  ALL organic.  Yummers. 

Affordably Organic goes on the road

Only 3 days until the 14^th Annual Georgia Organics Conference! 

I’m especially stoked because I’m a speaker this year.  (happy gulp)

And it’s all because of a dinner party.

I was the Organic Mom in a field of professional foodies including a celebrity chef; a popular cookbook author;, a respected food editor for a regional magazine; a long-time food writer and blogger; and the leader of a large food advocacy group. I was asked to share my views on food and how I feed my family an organic diet on a tight budget. A week or so later I was asked if I’d be interested in speaking at the Georgia Organics Annual Conference about how to live “Affordably Organic.”  I was thrilled, humbled and excited.  What an awesome opportunity to bust the myth that you have to be a Rockefeller to eat organically! 

I jumped at the chance.

So, this weekend I’ll teach conference attendees how to feed a family of four an almost entirely organic diet on tight budget.  Exciting stuff.  I get to spread the gospel that this lifestyle is possible! (Really.)  And easy.  (And fun!)  And extremely beneficial for you and your family.  Financially, physically and emotionally. I'm used to speaking to small groups and evangelizing this good news to anyone that will listen (if you've sat down sat my dinner table you know this is true) but never a group this big. (Did I hear that there will be 3,000 attendees this year? Zoinks.) I AM STOKED. 

Since you may not be able to join us at the conference in Savannah, I’ll be sharing my Affordably Organic tips on this blog in the coming weeks.   I welcome questions, feedback and comments, especially if you have real-world successes and tips to share.  I’m hoping we can get the conversation going and learn from each other.

I won’t have much computer access while at the conference so won’t be filing that many blog posts but I will have my Blackberry so trust that I’ll be tweeting my organic head off.  You can find me at www.twitter.com/mindeherbert.  (The Georgia Organics Conference hashtag is #GOconf.) 

Savannah, here we come!

Dirty dishes can wait

"The best inheritance a parent can give his children is a few minutes of his time each day."  -O.A. Battista, Catholic author (1901-1973)

It seems that what my kids want most from me is what I often find hardest to give:

 Time. 

I am so intent on creating a healthy and happy environment (figuratively and literally) for my 4-year old twins that I often forget that the most important part of the day is when I drop whatever I’m doing and just get down on the floor and play with them.  It’s a simple concept, really.  We should spend time with our children doing what is most valuable, what we love to do most–what makes us, and those we care about, happy.  It's a win-win for all involved.

Instead, far too often Moms spend their time keeping the family fabric glued together so that everyone has what they need. (Or what we think they need. I'm afraid that my children's childhood memories will consist of constant errand-running!)  I know that if I asked my son how he’d rather spend time with me - buying new underwear or playing with Legos–he’d emphatically choose Legos.  Hands down.  

Nothing means more to a child than the time they spend with the most important people in their lives–their parents.  And while underwear is important stuff, nothing trumps the time we have with our kids right now.  So, I’m making a conscious effort to make time for and savor the Lego Moments (and trying to balance the underwear moments) to insure that the time that is spent with my children is the best it can be. 

An awesome reason for leaving the dirty dishes.  My fabulous and fun daughter. 

Homeschool Blogs That Fill My (Creative) Cup

As a lucky (but swamped) mom of young twins, busy freelance writer, enthusiastic homeschooler and organic food evangelist, I often have trouble filing my own creative cup.  How do I get “fed” and inspired?  I don't go for a run... or work on a scrapbook... or write in a journal...  

I read blogs.  

ALL kinds of blogs. 

Design, green living, parenting, food...  You name it.  I love to read about other people’s perspectives about what works (and what doesn’t) in their lives. 

Listed below is a list of a few of my fave homeschooling blogs.  These parents ROCK.  And they inspire be to keep at it by providing valuable ideas, funny anecdotes (I do THAT too!), and tips and tricks that are easy and fun to manage and execute.  

Thanks for the brain food, awesome homeschool parents!  

Simple Home School - This blog really speaks to me because it's so darned authentic.  Bloggers share their successes and failures and I find at least one valuable nugget every time I log on.

Journey into UNschooling - In a word:  FUN. This author has a fresh and smart point of view about learning, education and teaching. 

The Attached Mama - I mostly identify with this mom since we chose the same curriculum - we both follow the Charlotte Mason method.  She is smart, funny and has AWESOME ideas.

The Pioneer Woman - For those of us that read blog on a regular basis, you will not need to be introduced to Ree Drummond.  Her homeschooling advice is wonderful and lately she's been featuring some really intelligent bloggers that have tons of real-world experience.