Organic Food: How, Why, What & What To Do With It

Organic Food: How, Why, What & What To Do With It

Thu 02 Feb 2012

Story by Dawn Viola
 

This week’s #FoodRevParty addressed a big topic: how do afford organic foods. Let's face it. Local is good, but local and organic is better; much better. So while most of the nation has heeded the call for local farmer's markets, consumers are still faced with a lack of organic food at those markets, leaving them with conventional options grown with pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. Organic food from grocery stores, depending on your area, can often be double the price of conventional.

Twitter Party: January 31, 2012, 4 pm PST/7 pm EST

Theme: Organic Food: how, why, where, and what to do with it once you get it home.

We tackled, in 140 characters or less, how to afford organics and integrate them into your daily life without breaking the bank. Every person who participated, every person who lurked, is considered a Food Revolutionist. Thank you all for taking steps to change our local and national food systems for the better. I started by defining what organic means to me:

• @dawnviola We're talking about organic food. First would like to define: To me, organic is good/clean/fair, not necessarily certified.

• @dawnviola Good/clean/fair food = yummy, fresh, local, pesticide-free, priced right for farmers and consumers.

Below are some highlights from our #FoodRevParty – as soon as we started talking about food, everyone got chatty!

Q1. What are your favorite resources for organics? (online, farmers markets, etc.)

• @Ciocia I shop at roadside stands, farmers' markets, look online for CSAs and have delivery service where I order online.

• @dawnviola Top three questions to ask at the farmer's market: where was it grown, who grew it, is it pesticide-free?

• @dawnviola Another great question to ask at farmers markets or CSA, road stand: what kind of fertilizer was used?

Q2. What is your No. 1 tip for anyone looking to switch from conventional to organic?

• @TheOrganicTrail Start small. Pick one or two items and source them locally. Once you taste local/organic it is hard to go back.

• @dawnviola Replace at least 1 processed/packaged food each week with organic produce, meats, dairy. #foodrevparty

• @dawnviola Key to affording organics: replace all packed foods, a little at a time. It's so easy to make crackers, cookies at home! #foodrevparty

• @Ciocia Look at Dirty Dozen/Clean 15: Replace Dirty Dozen foods first. They are grown most contaminated methods: #foodrevparty

Q3. What is your favorite recipe using organic produce?

• @dawnviola Average produce travels 1500 miles or more to get to your plate. Crazy, but true. Buying local offers best nutrition + flavor

• @JaimeMorlin During the winter, it is butternut squash ravioli with brown butter sage sauce

• @TheOrganicTrail Just made Sweet Potato "Fries" for my girls from our local organic farmer. The taste was amazing.

• @dawnviola There is also a non-GMO guide here to go along w/ Dirty Dozen/Clean lists to help you w/ food choices.

• @dawnviola Mine = grilled swordfish with heirloom toms

• @dawnviola Check out @delorganic site, too -- she has a wonderful book on organic foods + great tips and recipes on her site.

• @lanaprekprogram Caprese salad- tomatoes/basil/moz chz. Throw in some fresh crusty bread & I am a happy girl.

Q4. How did you get your family on the organic path?

• @dawnviola Check out @crunchacolor's article on Jamie's website this week.

• @lanaprekprogram Ha! They eat what I buy. :) I do the shopping so they have no choice but to get onboard. :)

• @JaimeMorlin We started on our organic path by planting our own garden

• @Ciocia Made senior mom watch #FoodInc. She also watches Jamie by choice.

• @TheOrganicTrail Just started swapping out foods. Made our switch at the beginning of summer when produce was freshest.

• @houseofannie We take the kids to the farmer's market and explain the difference between conv. and organic as we graze

Q5. How do you deal with your kids' schools when it comes to organic/fresh food?

• @crunchacolor I feel so lucky. Onsite organic garden. Use when we can on the school lunch menu. 100% organic.

• @dawnviola I became really involved with @SlowFoodOrlando as a way to change our local food system, including school lunches

• @SeptemberAcres A constant struggle here. Very sad. I pack daughters lunch.

• @TheOrganicTrail I make lunch most days, but we pick 1 day a week for her to buy. Important to learn how to navigate buying own food.

• @sternmanrule A mom at my kids' school started several gardens. In summer, parents harvest all the food & donate it to the local food bank.

• @dawnviola Each of us can make a difference. Instead of a fundraiser at a local fast food joint, encourage school to sell seeds and soil.

• @dawnviola Instead of bake sales, do a community market at school, invite farmers, to your child's school to sell, do revenue share

And with that, we wrapped up a very productive discussion, inviting everyone to join the #FoodRevParty next Tuesday at 7pm PST/10pm EST with @crunchacolor as host. We also remind everyone to pop on over to the Food Revolution website and sign the petition.

About the Author & Host: Dawn Viola is a research and development chef and food writer. She serves on the board of directors for Slow Food Orlando and works with local and national companies as a healthy recipe consultant with a focus on special diets and food allergies as well as organic, local and sustainable ingredients. Dawn’s work has appeared in a variety of print and online publications such as Food2.com, BlogHer.com, Chef2Chef.net, Dessert Professional Magazine, The Orlando Sentinel and Edible Orlando Magazine. She has appeared on Food Network, Cooking with Emeril, and is a frequent guest on Martha Stewart Radio, Fox News and The Daily Buzz. Dawn’s recipes and cooking tips have also been published in Dinner for Busy Moms and The Flexitarian Cookbook. Visit Dawn's website and follow her on Twitter.