What
is the benefit of organic foods? Why should I spend extra money
for them? Organic
fruits and vegetables are raised by healthier methods, using no
chemical and pesticides. The problem with pesticides is that children,
pound for pound, eat more bananas and drink more apple juice than
adults. This means that if a certain amount of pesticide has been
deemed safe for a 150 pound adult, it probably isn't safe for
a 35 pound child. Very few adults drink apple juice or eat bananas
with the fervor of toddlers. When children drink a quart of apple
juice in a day and eat at least one banana, they're ingesting,
pound for pound, more poison in their food during the years when
they have the least tolerance.
Unfortunately,
because less organic food is grown and marketed, the prices are
somewhat higher. There was a time when you could only buy organically-grown
foods in health food stores. Today, little by little, supermarkets
are devoting a few precious feet of produce space to this important
health product. We need to make ourselves heard at the grocery
store. Where customers create a demand, product becomes available.
Where product is readily available, costs come down.
Our daughter was
involved in a gardening project at her elementary school. The
children were instructed on how to plant, tend, and harvest their
own vegetables. The youngsters loved eating the vegetables they
had raised, and they were proud of their efforts. You can get
information on how to start such a program in you school by contacting
the Outreach Coordinator for the Common Ground Garden Program,
University for California Cooperative Extension for Los Angeles
County, 2615 S. Grand Ave., #400, Los Angeles, CA 90007-2668.
We've started a
garden plot at home too. It's a wonderful way for me to become
involved in the things that interest my daughter and, at the same
time, teach her about what she should eat.
If you live in
a city apartment, you can build your garden in pots on a windowsill
or under fluorescent lights. Ask for guidance at your local garden
center. There is nothing that compares with the taste of a tomato,
warmed from the sun and picked by hand from your own garden.
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