I Don’t Buy Organic Food, and That Doesn’t Make Me a Bad Mom.

As a mom, the majority of the grocery shopping and cooking responsibilities fall to me. We all want what’s best for our kids and families, but seriously, do we need more stress? Sometimes just grocery shopping can feel so overwhelming with all the information out there. Who do you believe? How do you ever know what is best? Everyone has an opinion and judgement, especially when it comes to raising kids and what you should feed them.

Choices are a good thing!

I personally believe life is mostly about balance. I apply this concept to most every area of my life. I use my herbal remedies and essential oils, but also modern medicine when needed. I breastfeed all my babies, but I wouldn’t dare let them co-sleep with me. I give my kids kale smoothies and Oreos in the same day. You do ALL those things too?! Great! You don’t do ANY of those things?! Great! What works for you may not always work for me and vice versa. Isn’t freedom great?!

It’s the same way with farming. Choices are great, and I think we even need those in farming and our food supply. Can we just pause and say hallelujah, that we have an abundant enough food supply that we GET to choose our foods?! We need to never forget how blessed we are that we have a stable and safe food supply.

Why do we care about your opinion?

I grew up on a farm with crops and beef cattle. I have a bachelor’s degree in animal science. I worked for 5 years in commercial hog production. *Gasp!* Yes, one of those so called “factory farms”. No, a farming family that just happens to also be really good business people and have a lot of land and animals after years of HARD work. Also, my husband and I have raised about every kind of (farmish) animal you could imagine. I am by no means saying I’m an expert, but I do know a little about the science and practical aspects that go into producing animals and crops for food. You can read more about our experience HERE!

When shopping you may see labels like “all natural”, “organic”, “hormone free”, “non-GMO”, or “grass fed”. Everywhere you look someone is coming out with a new study or sensational claim about chemicals in food or the destruction of the Earth by “factory farms”. You are led to believe that if you don’t choose a certain type of food or even whole diet lifestyle, you are giving your children second rate food. That’s just not true. The USDA is the agency that sets the standards for organic farming in order for them to use that label on their products. Organic is a term that says the food or products have been raised using the approved methods.

• Organic does NOT indicate a superior nutritional value. There are a lot of claim, but no solid, science based research that shows this to be true.
• Organic does NOT tell you where your food came from. Most all farms, yes even the big “factory farms” are family owned and have been for generations.
• Organic does NOT tell you if pesticides were used or not. Contrary to popular belief , organic farming can still use pesticides.

I’m probably not going to buy any of those “labels” because they are A: more expensive (marketing is a business after all), B: I have 100% confidence that ALL of our food is safe, and C: I don’t believe that “organic”, “all natural”, “non-GMO” etc is better or healthier….just a different option.

Again, choices in food are fabulous and a luxury that many people around the world don’t have. Whatever you choose, that is what’s best for your family, but please, do NOT choose because of fear, guilt, or shame playing a part in the marketing of products. At the end of the day, its hard enough to feed your family and not have “mom guilt”, don’t let misleading labels add to it.