Thank you so much for this thoughtful comment! You bring up some really wonderful points here, and I know readers will appreciate this addition to the article.

I think the point you brought up at the end was very well made, about balancing your checkbook as well as your values. I think more and more people are realizing that their shopping habits really do reflect their values.

My goal with this article was to offer up some easy ways people could begin shopping organic, and show which foods would make the most impact in their lives. I know in many cases organic food is the same price as conventional food. In other cases, it’s much more.

What’s most important, I believe, is for people to simply get started. Small steps, like buying organic milk or shopping at farmer’s markets, really do pay off and make a difference.

In my own life, going green and shopping organic really has been a journey, which has (and still is) shaped my values as I’ve gone along. The more time passes, the more important it becomes to me to shop consciously. And I think that’s true for anyone who starts this journey.

Thanks again for your wonderful comment!

-Heather

Some have suggested that we respond to this question by picking certain organic products off store shelves and not others. Doing this, they argue, will help us keep costs down and maximize the personal health benefits that organic products have to offer.

While there may be merit in this argument, it misses an important point: buying organic is about more than keeping pesticides out of our bodies. It is about supporting a system of sustainable agricultural management that promotes soil health and fertility through the use of such methods as crop rotation and cover cropping, which nourish plants, foster species diversity, help combat climate change, prevent damage to valuable water resources, and protect farmers and farmers’ families from exposure to harmful chemicals.

In this sense, buying organic is about both understanding and commitment: understanding that personal and environmental health are inseparable, and commitment to the bigger, more complex picture of which our personal health is a part.

Buying organic is easier and in many ways more affordable than ever before. Not only do organic products appear on store shelves in mainstream retail outlets around the country, but thanks to the introduction of organic private label products, the growth of farmers’ markets selling organic products, and organic’s lack of dependence on petroleum-based farm inputs, the gap between organic and non-organic prices is closing. Indeed, in some cases, the price of organic goods is comparable to non-organic goods, making the decision to “go organic” simple and cost-effective.

Do we still have to make choices about which items to buy? Absolutely. But in making this choice, we should think less about crossing certain organic items off our shopping lists and more about how we can achieve positive personal, social and environmental change through the organic purchases we choose to make.

We must also give greater thought to the consumption choices we make that are most directly affected by rising fuel costs, such as the cars we drive, the distances we commute, and the temperatures at which we keep our homes. Along with the decision to buy organic products, it is these day-to-day decisions that determine whether we balance not only our checkbooks but our values.