Mom Goes Green

Organic foods are always a hot topic… everything from the controversy over the benefits of organic, to which fruits and veggies are organic ‘necessities’… the list goes on and on.

One thing I have been guilty of is putting organic products on a pedestal when they sometimes don’t deserve it. Now don’t get me wrong, I still recommend organics with my whole heart and soul, and will continue to buy organic produce and products, but my guilt comes from reading the word “organic” and making assumptions about the rest of the ingredients.

Case in point: While we were out-and-about, my kids asked for “a milk”.  I knew they were asking for a Horizon Organic Milk Box, so immediately my answer was, “Sure!”  I mean, why not?  It’s organic milk after all.  But then this caught my eye:

• Horizon Vanilla Reduced-Fat Organic Milk – Sugars: 29g (29 grams of sugar in an 8 oz. milk?!?!  Friends, that’s over 7 teaspoons* of sugar!!!)

So, I looked closer at some of my other purchases and here is what I found:

• Stonyfield Organic 6 oz. Fat-Free Peach Yogurt – Sugars:  25g (over 6 teaspoons* of sugar!)

• Cascadian Farm Organic Apricot Fruit Spread – Sugars: 10g (this is for “one tablespoon serving size”, so essentially… there are over 3 teaspoons* of sugar in a 1 tablespoon serving!)

This extra sugar is something NONE of us needs, so my point is this… always look beyond the “organic” label.  It’s not necessarily the perfect product just because it has the “magical ‘o’-word!”  Sometimes it has what you want, but sometimes there is an “extra” that you don’t.

Be a label reader and read beyond “organic”…

(* To compute the number of teaspoons of sugar in any food product simply divide the number of sugar grams by 4!)

As if there wasn’t enough debate (and yes, confusion) about the benefit of organic vs. non-organic milk, now “natural” milk is being introduced on grocery store shelves.

I’ve never wavered in my preference for organic milk.  It is higher quality; contains more nutrients; does NOT contain high residues of pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics or hormones; and it comes from cows that have an overall better quality of life and receive organic feed.

Now enter: natural milk. What this essentially means is that the milk cannot contain artificial ingredients and additives like sweeteners, colors, flavors, preservatives or high fructose corn syrup, but it CANNOT make any of the claims of organic milk or the absence of all the harmful residues.

The pricing for natural milk will be somewhere between organic and non-organic. And with organic milk being high priced in comparison, some shoppers may be misled into believing that they’re buying a product that is less expensive than organic but getting all the benefits of organic milk.  This simply isn’t true. The difference is simply in the processing after it comes from the cow, not in the quality of the milk itself.

There is already so much confusion about organic milk and its beneficial qualities, and now natural milk will serve only to create more confusion. But be advised that natural milk is not better than organic milk (despite how it sounds), and giving a product the term “natural” is not regulated like the use of the term “organic”.

Just like non-organic milk, natural milk is like a box of chocolates… “you never know what you’re gonna get!”

Well, there’s plenty of debate over this question.  There are oodles of research and sites with opinions and discussions and disagreements over what is real, what is embellished and what is pure fiction.  It’s mind boggling, to say the least.

I will first say ‘yes’, I do buy only organic milk.  It costs a lot more and that is a price I am, personally, willing to pay because I have children that drink it daily (although I have debated, in my own mind, whether cow’s milk is necessary at all).  Organic milk does give me a greater peace of mind for many reasons.  These are the things I have learned that have helped me reach this decision:

Naturally-fed cows, with a better quality of life, produce a higher quality of milk – it is shown to contain more antioxidants, vitamin E, omega-3 and beta carotene.
Organic milk cows cannot have bovine growth hormone (BGH) administered, which is used to increase milk production.  By forcing cows to produce an abnormally high volume of milk, they are prone to painful udder infections.  Bacteria from the infection flows right along with the milk and pasteurization does NOT remove it (this nauseates me)… and then isn’t the hormone still present too?…
Some research also shows that consumption of non-organic milk, that may contain hormones, can cause early puberty in children (this scares me to no end… again, I have children drinking it. I was most effected by studies of Hispanic homes, where the consumption of milk is not nearly as prevalent, and this evidence of early puberty does not exist).
Organic milk cows do not have high residues of pesticides and fertilizers transferred to the milk from genetically modified feed, as does milk from non-organic cows.
Organic diary farming requires a higher standard for the well-being of the cows and they must receive time “at pasture” instead of a lifetime of confinement (the animal-loving part of me has a hard time overlooking this as well… look at that face!).

Let’s presume that all of the facts are false… what have I lost?  Some extra money, that’s it.  But then… what if some or ALL of them are true?  The consequences for that seem a lot more costly than money to me.

If the price were the same, wouldn’t you choose organic?  You decide.