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I've got a bee in my bonnet. It is, quite simply, this: Why, in a day and age when we parents are better-educated and more safety-minded than ever, is it still so difficult and expensive to buy organic foods for our kids?
Granted, eating organic isn't just for growing children. It's a great idea for everyone. But often it's the muscle of concerned parents that gets behind a basic safety issue and Makes Things Change, and I guess I'm trying to figure out why more parents don't see this as a matter we all need to be tackling.
I'm a huge believer in the "putting your money where your mouth is" credo. Manufacturers understand nothing so well as cold, hard cash. The theory is that if more people buy organic, if more people eschew overly processed and modified foods, market demand will increase and supply will follow suit--with a concomitant price drop.
In practice, well. Um. Hi! I'm a single mom on a tight budget. While I do prioritize my children's diet, I simply cannot afford to buy all organic. The selection of organic produce, for example, at my local grocery store averages twice the cost of the non-organic. Many items which I'd love to have as staples in our diet aren't even available at that store; I have to drive an hour round trip to a speciality store, and the price there isn't much better (and now I'm adding in gas money).
Both of my children have eczema, and my son used to have serious food allergies. Now both children have some interesting reactions to ingesting certain dyes or chemicals. It's critical that I'm careful about what I'm putting into their bodies, as they have known, related health issues. (And how many kids nowadays have food allergies? ADHD? How much of this is related to our diet?)
The result? I buy organic milk. (It probably increases my grocery budget by about $15/month, and I rest easier at night believing that it will keep my 8-year-old from sprouting breasts.) And I keep the overly-processed foods to a minimum. And I have guilt.
Guilt I can afford. An all-organic pantry--at this point in my life--I cannot.
I was chatting about this issue with fellow blogher Karen Walrond (who brought us some of her own thoughts on wearing green-tinted glasses a few weeks ago). I said, more or less, that I didn't feel anything would change until a large enough percentage of shoppers bite the higher-cost bullet and make a statement with their dollars. Karen disagreed, and I think she may be on to something.
We already know that parenting bloggers are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to market influence. We're smart, we're savvy, we spend our money online and off, and large corporations are listening to us. Maybe there are ways to raise our voices and make it clear that we demand better quality, affordable, and yes, okay, I'm willing to hug a few trees but I'm still going to shave my legs thankyouverymuch, organic foods for our families.
Now, the $64,000 question:
How do we do it? I'm all ears.
Mir
Contributing Editor Mir also blogs at Woulda Coulda Shoulda and Ty's Toy Box.
[image credit: McDonald's U.K.]
