Your mission, if you choose to accept, is to do something organic this week that you don’t usually.
Level of Commitment: Baby Steps
This is a leveled challenge, because readers might be at all different places in their organic process. Find your profile and act accordingly:
- I don’t buy organic foods. Buy something organic from the New Dirty Dozen List. Focusing on the foods with the most chemicals will make the biggest impact on your family for the money spent.
- I buy some organic foods. Buy something organic that you’ve never bought before, especially focusing on meat and dairy.
- I don’t have a garden. Consider growing some organic tomatoes or peppers in pots.
- I garden, but not organically. Make at least one major change this growing season: fight pests without chemicals, use organic and natural fertilizer, etc. Or go whole hog and ditch the sprays and NPK fertilizers of all kinds!
- I have an organic household! Spread the love. Try to find someone this week to share an idea with. Perhaps print the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 and explain how to use it.
For some inspiration to buy more organic produce, see my other post from today: “I Just Love Finding Bugs in my Lettuce.”
The U.S. Government is often called out for being anti-organics, but here the USDA speaks on these questions: “Are there fewer pesticide residues on organic foods than on conventionally grown foods? Are there fewer antibiotic and hormone residues in organic meat, eggs and dairy products than in conventional animal products? Is organic food safer to eat?“ Worth a skim, to be sure.
Tomorrow Laura of Heavenly Homemakers will join us to talk about Getting the Pesticides Out, the Spring Cleaning Carnival way of including both organic gardening and organic food purchasing in one week. Link up your posts on anything organic, including:
- organic gardening tips
- pesticide alternatives
- how to buy organic produce
- strategies for Farmer’s Market or other local shopping
- recipes that focus on well-grown produce
- and more!
You’ll also get a chance to win Laura’s eBook, Heavenly Homemaker’s Guide to Gardening and Preserving, and some other goodies to help you start your garden, no matter how much space you have.
——————————————–
I’d love to see more of you! Sign up for a free email subscription or grab my reader feed. You can also follow me on Twitter, get KS for Kindle, or see my Facebook Fan Page.
If you missed the last Monday Mission, click here.
Kitchen Stewardship is dedicated to balancing God’s gifts of time, health, earth and money. If you feel called to such a mission, read more at Mission, Method, and Mary and Martha Moments.
Photo from kumasawa
I buy some organics, more now than ever before. We just ordered a 1/4 of grassfed, organic beef from good friends, and have a small organic garden of our own. Raise 10 layer hens on organic mash, with free-ranging from dawn till dusk. In addition, I am a member of a local CSA, where I help teach classes on what to do with all that produce! I am in my later 50′s, and unfortunately have been slow to get on the bandwagon. Better late than never? I hope so!
.-= Cindy Young´s last blog ..GOT MILK??? =-.
[Reply to this comment]
Timely post – I’m currently reading the book Organic Manifesto. It is truly scary. I’m only 1/3 of the way through so I hope there is some hope – so far the picture looks really bleak. Seems like we’ve already contaminated everything
.-= Wendy (The Local Cook)´s last blog ..Menu Planning in Season =-.
[Reply to this comment]
Kelly Reply:
May 10th, 2010 at 9:13 am
Wendy –
I totally understand your sentiment. I haven’t read the Organic Manifesto, but I have read others and it is scary. But the hope is that we can make a difference. Mother Nature may not be very forgiving at times, but she is pretty resilient. If we make our demands via the all-mighty dollar with our purchases and our practices, something will have to change. Just keep making those baby steps!
[Reply to this comment]
Love this post! I am trying to do more and more things organically (in fact, that is what my blog is about for the most part) including taking the chemicals out of my home, and most recently buying organic meats (I already buy almost purely organic produce). Thanks for spreading the message!
.-= Lauren @ Just Add Lauren´s last blog ..Free Pedometer =-.
[Reply to this comment]
Do all the above…
shop organically, eat out at organic restaurants, eat pasture raised meats/eggs,
have a garden, help start organic gardens at both schools, helped push a local farmer’s market,
just sent out notes to remind friends to shop at local farmer’s market tomorrow, and working on getting requests in for an all seasons farmer’s market…. and we’re arranging for a screening of Fresh the Movie locally as well…
[Reply to this comment]
I buy as much organic food as I can. Flour, nuts, eggs, meats, vegetables, etc. My dad has a garden and in the summer he gives us tons of organic veggies, too
.-= kanmuri´s last blog ..Great Expectations =-.
[Reply to this comment]
We’re a pretty organic household. But I still did something new! Today I visited the farm where we are participating in our CSA. In addition to picking up my food, I helped plant with his big machine! I liked doing it, which is good, because someday we hope to have a farm!
.-= Kate´s last blog ..Do Your Research!: Vaccines =-.
[Reply to this comment]
I’ve been trying to focus on more organic veggies lately! We bought some organic kale at the Farmers Market yesterday, and I was able to pick up some organic berries at the store today! It helps when the organic produce are the same price (if not cheaper!) than the traditional!
.-= Diana´s last blog ..1st Visit of the Year to the Farmer’s Market! =-.
[Reply to this comment]
We joined a local CSA this year! Have been buying organic when possible mostly the dirty dozen. I am looking for a local (Grand Rapids) source for organic strawberries (u-pick is fine) for freezer jam.
Learning so much from your site, thanks for your time and efforts.
PS.. the deodorant is working great! Two friends are on board with it too..
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
May 13th, 2010 at 1:44 pm
Shelley,
We picked organic strawberries up near Fruit Ridge last year! Email me and I’ll email you when I get the call from my friend who is in that CSA… Katie
kitchenstew at gmail.com
[Reply to this comment]
I’d recommend seeking out Certified Naturally Grown.
It follows all the same principles as Organic farming, but is not bound up in all the governmental red tape. You also tend to find it more among small farmers as Certified Organic is too expensive for them to maintain.
I’ll also second the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). It costs a bit up front, but it’s a wonderful source of fresh produce all season long. I’ve been a part of one for 2 years now and am looking forward to the new season.
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
May 13th, 2010 at 4:16 pm
Justin,
Katie
Yes! I forgot to mention Certified Chemical Free and such, which is how I buy my grain, and I feel good about that. I wish I could have gotten in on a CSA this year, but we are/were hoping to move, so I was worried I’d have to drive too far to pick it up.
Thanks for the tip!
[Reply to this comment]
I have been doing pretty good with organic fruit and veggies (prioritizing via the Dirty Dozen), buying organic yogurt, flour, oats, and additional things sporadically as I can afford. I was nervous about the price of organic grass-fed meat though! I went to the store yesterday & regular meat was not on sale and was the same as the organic grass-fed at the health food store! I was so excited! So I will be trying to buy that more often! I am looking forward to the Farmers Market so I can see what meat prices are like there!
Thanks for all you do Katie!
[Reply to this comment]