Thoughts on Organics and My Life in General

Happy rainy Tuesday morning!  It's dreary here in PA.  But, as always, I thank God for taking care of watering my gardens for me.  One less chore on my list.  I wish there was a better way to entertain the kids though on these rainy days...especially when summer is around the corner, and especially after a 3 day weekend at home.  They're not here yet but I am predicting wound up is the name of today's game.  Followed closely by drive Miss Sheri insane.  ;-)

But I did get started early on their breakfast...banana muffins.  I have some secret weapons.  These are definitely the way to get at least 10 minutes of peace while they eat.  And I love that it's super easy.  I use this banana bread recipe and adapt it first to be muffins, so I cut the cook time to about 20 minutes give or take and I cut the sugar to 1/2 cup because it really can stand it.  I mean, 3 bananas are pretty sweet already.



I also am sucking down large amounts of caffeine this morning trying desperately to get rid of this migraine that is slowly wearing down my will to survive.  It's been here 4 days and counting.  This morning I blended a banana, some ice, lots of cold coffee and some almond milk into a smoothie-ish concoction.  Oh, I hope something works soon.  I don't enjoy visiting the doctor and getting a shot.  :(



Oh, and as an intro into my original idea for this post...I got real strawberries from my garden yesterday.  Not babyish almost strawberries like last year but lovely, big strawberries.  And there are lots more ripening where these came from...



So, how do my garden's strawberries lead into an organic discussion?  Well, my strawberries aren't organic in the sense that they are not from organic plants.  This is the third year for these strawberries and it predates my family's switch to all organic.  So, they are homegrown without pesticides but they weren't organic plants originally.   Why is this an important distinction?  I thought I knew.  I thought that somehow these strawberry plants, while homegrown and sustainably grown were still inferior to the heirloom varieties of strawberries.  And maybe they are.  But maybe they're not.  I finally rented In Organics We Trust over the weekend.   You can watch the trailer here.  So, anyway, the gist of the movie was whether or not organics are truly the healthier or more sustainable choice.  And, after watching it, I'm not sure.  Yes, the lowered amount of harmful pesticides is a desirable thing, but if that food item then happens to have traveled 1700 miles...is that the better choice?  Bananas are a good example. I love bananas.  We go through A LOT of bananas in our house.  And I've been buying organic as much as I possibly can (conventional only when they're out of stock) and thought I was doing the right thing.  But I am still supporting the mass transit of our food sources.  Is that right?  And, if it's not, what do I do?  Do without bananas?  I don't know.  But I do know that after watching the movie, local and sustainable practices are definitely the way to go.  Choose to know your farmers and food sources over blindly following a label that may or not continue to support large scale agriculture that is killing our ecosystems.  If a large corporation grows both conventional, GMO crops as well as organic crops, that means that my food dollars inadvertently are still supporting the practices that I don't believe in.  But, if my food dollars go to local farmers and seed companies, then I am giving them more incentive to keep doing what they're doing.  And that is a choice I can feel good about.

What are your thoughts?  How do you feel about the organics vs local?