Sprouts: I started at Sprouts last week. Their produce was a little "wilty" and ugly. I have heard organic isn't always as pretty (since they don't use chemicals). I understand if it's not visually AS appealing, but I'm still not going to buy ugly looking produce. The spinach was too ugly for purchase and the red peppers were packaged like meat in a package of two. This drives me crazy when stores do this. In the end, I would have paid for two peppers, but I only needed one. Sprouts got an "F" for the day.
Whole Foods: I'm not going to lie. I LOVED going to Whole Foods the previous week. It's just a pretty place, and I felt like there was a better variety. BEWARE. First, I searched for the organic spinach bunch. Here is a clear problem I see with Whole Foods: they do not separate their organic section like all other stores do, their produce section is mixed with organic and non-organic. The spinach clearly didn't say that it was organic on it, and I had to ask employee if it was. He claimed it was. I asked him to double check for me. First employee grabbed second employee who confessed they did not have any organic spinach bunches, they only had it in the pre-packaged bins that week, their supplier didn't have any. Okay, aren't you supposed to be WHOLE FOODS? Known for good selection on organic? Whatever. I went over to get my red pepper. I was shocked. They were charging $3.99 a pound for NON-ORGANIC peppers. I checked my receipt from the previous trip, it was the same price. I also noticed that it said "ORG" next to my organic purchases. Little did I realize, I did not purchase an organic pepper the week before. I looked around the whole produce section. No organic peppers to be found. Now I was really irritated. I had to go to a third grocery store. Annoying. Whole Foods also gets an "F" for trying to deceive me. There is actually quite a bit of non-organic produce in their store. Again, beware.
Safeway: My third store of the day. I was starting to rethink this organic stuff. I like Safeway and Sprouts better in some ways because their organic produce is segregated from regular produce. I was able to get my spinach bunch and my red pepper (organic). YAY! I must say, I just used this red pepper the other night. It had a really bright red color, and it tasted really good, too. Another interesting discovery, there were some organic grape tomatoes that were cheaper than the non-organic. Sometimes the price jump is minimal between organic/regular. Maybe if it's on the dirty dozen list you should just see what the price gap is for the week? Maybe it really won't be that much more to buy it organic.
I wasn't crazy about my recipes from last week, or the time it took to make them. With a demanding baby, I bit off more than I could chew and I'm a little exhausted with this project and cooking dinner. Hence, no blog updates. If I get around to it I will update the post with my receipts and a total. I've been stretching my meals pretty good, so I still have not made my third grocery trip.
Very good tips! Being sick for literally a week got me thinking about our own health. We are generally pretty healthy, but after watching a few documentaries, I too have decided to buy some organic produce. I have read research and different articles that make me a little concerned on the organic market. Mostly, it is better to buy organic, but where is the question.
ReplyDeleteSummertime grow your own or go to a farmers market...I trust that route a lot more than a grocery store. Since we cannot grow anything this time of year, we have to import, but I have read some articles about not being able to trust the standards overseas.
Grocery chains, like WF and Trader Joes are actually owned by some of the BIG guys who do conventional farming. I personally don't care for Whole Foods. I think it is way overpriced and they are not forthcoming on organic vs. non organic foods. I have also read some pretty negative things on them as a company that steers me clear most of the time. That company is very good at making you feel that it is a high end, local store, when in fact they also import foods from Mexico, China and a lot of other places.
The last is that because the USDA is certifying it organic makes me wonder how good the standards are. As you can tell I don't trust all the organic push, especially being a government run agency.
That being said, I bought organic oranges (not something you have to), and the taste FAR exceeds that of non organic. King Soopers had some awesome ones the other day. They were so good that we bought like 15 and made fresh squeezed OJ...super good! Thanks for the information...very helpful to hear other people's experiences.
I am so interested in following your experience with going organic. Thanks for sharing - I love your humorous touch! This post, especially the part about Whole Foods cracked me up. :)
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