I went to a store the other day. It is called Sprout Soup. I hear people talk about it all of the time, so I thought I would venture to see what the hype was all about.
The second I stepped in, I found these Bento boxes that Wee Life uses for her son's lunches. Then I looked at the price tag. 13 buckaroos.
I proceeded to browse through the store and found some really cool stuff, I mean cool stuff! Things that you would find at Babies r us or Target. Most everything was Earth friendly and organic. Everything was made in the U.S.A.
It kind of sparked some sadness within me though. I mean, aren't we all entitled to having our children eat from chemical free containers or have them gnaw on a piece of wood that isn't going to have harmful effects on them? Don't get me wrong, it is a SUPER cool store and I really enjoyed browsing through all of the interesting things. If I had the money, I would have purchased a few things...but that is the thing. I don't have the money.
I would love to make changes in the way our family eats. Growing up, we had a garden. It was organic. Looking back, we didn't have a special term for it other than using the chicken crap to help things grow. Something doesn't make sense to me. Why are organic fruits and veggies so expensive when it costs more to put chemicals on them. I mean, our small garden produced alot of veggies for our family growing up just using natural resources. I would really love someone to answer this for me.
I am so happy there are groups that are growing gardens to help out their communities and for food pantries. Hello...fresh fruits and veggies that are chemical free! When I was working in the field of Social Work, I worked with families that lived on less than $25 dollars a week for groceries. Guess what they had in their cupboards? Their kids hardly had fruits and veggies. The only type of veggies they got were the veggies in pot pies. During home visits, bringing a bunch of bananas or a bag of apples were like giving my kids a huge bundle of cotton candy! Kudos to all of the organizations who are providing healthy options for the families who are just trying to get by!
Trying to get out of this rant, I hope to see things that are chemical free, organic, and Earth friendly come down a little in price in the near future. I keep imagining the wonderful things that could happen if they did!
4 comments:
hhmm, from what i know organic is more expensive b/c organic fruits/veggies are not grown on those huge, massive farms that ship large quantities (reducing shipping costs). i think, don't quote me on this!, but i think it has something to do with transportation.
i'm with you, more folks need the ability to eat fruits & veggies or even the chance to buy organic clothes & baby supplies if they want them. we can hope!
the short answer is that organic farming is more labor intensive with less yield than conventional farming. a big part of it is supply and demand. the more people invest in organics the cheaper they will be. a constant struggle for me is the tension between choosing organic or choosing local. (right now im more interested in choosing local). a LOT of organics come from china, which is way WAY too far for me to consciously feel outweighs the pros of local food. it seems overall better for the environment.
but it's tough...
I think there are a lot of reasons why it's more expensive. Remind me about the conversation next time we're together - I think it's an important one.
thanks guys. I did some more research and it kind of makes sense to me
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