What are the benefits for you or your family to eat healthfully?
It is unfortunate that it costs more for people to eat well than to eat conventionally. But more and more people are choosing to spend more on good food — why?
What are YOUR reasons for choosing good food? Thanks for your valuable input!
Oh! I enjoy cooking, so it’s no trouble for me. And I love my family and want them with me for a long, long time. I also like the way I feel when I’m more concious of how we eat.
Finding healthy options for the Baby is important, too, because of her Celiac Disease.
The big motivator is my baby. I realized that we all have to eat the way we want her to eat. I really like Dr. Fuhrman’s “Disease-Proof Your Child” and am starting to transition to the type of diet he recommends. Some of the research he describes is very motivating.
I am truly passionate about eating healthy and nourishing ourselves rather than just feeding ourselves. Although my boyfriend and I cannot afford to buy entirely organic (we’re both students), we buy mostly organic or else locally as much as possible. When I eat well I feel better- both mentally and physically and I try to minimize my carbon footprint. The way I see it and the reason I don’t mind spending more is that it is an investment in our health and and in our environment. I know that all diseases can’t be prevented but many also can with diet. I just don’t like how so many people have the attitude that they can live carelessly and that a quick pill or treatment can fix it later. Prevention is key!
It mystifies me to see people spend $10 on a lunch of empty calories and sniff at the cost of organic vegetables.
While organic foods can be quite a bit more expensive, on average, than a conventional foods, there are certainly ways to eat both healthfully and economically.
In order to compensate for the expense of good fruits and vegetables, as well as organic, cold-pressed oils and organic herbal and vitamin supplements, I keep meals pretty simple, cooking with grains and legumes, and find ways to save money in other areas (such as avoiding prepared foods when possible).
Furthermore, in buying organic produce, I feel I can save money in the long run– by helping prevent potential health problems which may result from pesticides.
I echo Laura’s sentiments on organic produce.
I don’t always eat as well as I ought to, but when I do eat good food, food that “remembers where it came from,” I just simply feel better. More energetic, more fit. And I love to cook, so I love to convert those good ingredients into good meals for my family.
Hmmm, good question. Well, we try to eat healthy because our son is sensitive to many chemicals they put in foods. We always feel better after eating well, and feel kind of yucky when we don’t.
We do not buy a lot of organic things, we just can’t afford it. We do buy orangic milk, wheat, and wheat.
I agree with Laura. I think people come away with the perception that a diet of natural foods is so much more expensive because they don’t make their comparisons storewide. How about comparing packaged stuffings and Lunchables with dried beans and bulk rice? My two primary considerations as we shift toward a more natural diet are: 1) As Wardeh has written, it is an act of worship for me to celebrate the abundance and nutritious value of what God has provided for us. And since He designed our bodies, I have greater confidence in His food products. 2) If you consider cost per nutrient, rather than cost per calorie, whole foods are a great deal!
Reading Such Treasures has given me inspiration and confidence to try a more diverse selection of grains, milks, and beans. Thanks!
We eat 95% all organic. It hurts the wallet but we want what is best for our bodies.
There are a few things I won’t give up and switch to organic. Thats me being stubborn I guess with my hellmans mayo and cool ranch doritos<~~when the craving hits.
Other than that–it’s all organic.
However I do not use organic cleaning products or beauty products.
I once read an article and still have it I think–about things you want organic and things to not bother with. I can try to find it if you’d like.
I hope you have a lovely weekend.
Michelle
We are waffleing between organics and regular grocery store. I don’t buy a bunch of junk, I do grind a good portion of our grains, but organics are so expensive for us. I live on a snowy mountain and the local stores are not very local for us. I do once a month shopping and can usually end up spending about $175 for a whole month worth of groceries for 5.
I make most of what we eat from scratch so that saves a huge portion on my bill. When I tried to do organics, still making most from scratch, I found that I just spent way too much money. I would spend about $100/week or more.
My husband and I have discussed it in depth and he says “No” on the organics. I could sway him, but I’m so torn myself.
Organics isn’t a big deal to me. So, we don’t bother. My personal challenge will be to transition to local growers (who often times are natural growers). My grandmother did it this year in the wake of all the alerts about contaminated fruits and veggies out of the US.
But, presently we have altered our diet to be primarily vegetarian and since I cook almost everything we make, with a few minor exceptions such as cereal bars and breads of one kind or another, eating healthy is far and away cheaper than eating a meat based diet.
For me, processed or prepared foods equals one big waste of money. If we stick to cooking from scratch, and have meat only occasionally, we can afford organic ingredients. I can’t stand to think of the chemical sprays and fertilizer residues entering our blood streams. When my kids were young, 25 years ago, there was no local source of organic products so I started a food co-op that served thirty families for fifteen years. We had to do something! Now there is a lot of variety and availability such as never before. But also now, there is a real problem in getting truly organic products, so local is getting more important too. All in all, we eat healthy to BE healthy. Besides, true organic food tastes so much better; you know, a tomato tastes like a tomato!
I changed my diet because I was sick with Crohn’s Disease. I am now healthy for about 6 years. No meds, no Dr. interaction regarding the Crohn’s at all. In this process I have come to believe that what we put into our bodies is so important. It is either life giving, or life taking. I like to choose life giving foods. No I am not a vegetarian, vegan or raw foods person. Although I do believe you don’t need a 12oz. steak everyday. Moderation on the meats. Lots of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, I don’t eat sugar, I only use raw honey. And we drink raw milk as well, which has been an unbelievable blessing for our family. One that we are willing to drive 60 miles one direction to get.
My advice for changing you diet, is do it one step at a time. You have to change the way you shop, cook, and think about food, that takes time. Choose 1 thing to change, get comfortable with that then move on to another. Don’t listen to regular tv advice for health, a lot of it is wrong. Ancient cooking in my opinion is best. We are just lucky enough to have more variety.
For me, beyond the taste and health benefits of locally produced, organic food, I buy those types of food because I have a deep sense of empathy and responsibility. I want to know that the animals I consume had a decent life before that give that life up to nurture my body. I want to know that future generations of people will have clean water and clean air. I want to know that farm workers are paid a living wage. Etc.
My 2 little ones. Also, we humans have been given a wonderful gift of this earth and all its ecosystems and streams and mountains that we have been squandering.
I think I am decent at cooking what Wardeh so eloqently calls whole foods. But we need to figure out how to incorporate organic fruits and veggies especially in a cost-effective manner. We live in a big city and groceries are expensive as it is.