A Gryphon <[log in to unmask]> responded to my previous post about the high
cost of organic produce and totally free range animals.

I am well aware of all the personal and planetary beneifts of organic
produce. There are many things we don't buy so that we can afford to buy
high quality foods.  However, where I live, in Toledo, Ohio, local organic
produce is hard to come by and often very expensive.  The shipped in stuff
is often not fresh but very pricey.

I buy most of my produce at a local farmers' market in the summer and fall.
It's fresh, very economical, and delicious.  The organic produce at the
health food stores typically cost three times as much.  We eat a lot of
produce at home and I've figured out what it would cost and it would be
prohibitive to buy all organic or mostly organic.  If I bought it at the
health food store, I would literally have to pay 2-3x as much.

There are no CSA (community supported agriculture) programs around here that
I have found, YET!  When we lived in Seattle, WA, there were orgnanic
farmers at the local markets, but not here.  Sometimes we can get unsprayed
produce, which is great.  We buy some organic produce---but we eat so much
produce that we can't do it for all or most of our veggies and fruits.

I get most of our meat from a local farmer, but the steer are fed grain.  If
I want totally grass fed beef, I must get it from someone 3-5 hours away and
pay more, which I intend to do down the road (for some of our meat).

I found a source for free range poultry (chicken, duck, goose, guinea fowl,
pheasant, and turkey in the fall) several weeks ago which is tastier from
birds that get more exercise than the "hormone/antibiotic-free" Amish
poultry at a local supermarket chain.   This poultry is very economical
right from the farmer.

A Gryphon <[log in to unmask]> said:
>.Granted, you do have to look around a bit for these things. I was just lucky
>enough to find a newspaper article about a local organization that helps
>people connect with local organic farmers. The idea is not only to support a
>healthier way of producing food, but of supporting our local farmers, rather
>than big business. These things may not exist in every area, but you might
>be surprised at what *is* out there.

es, I know about looking around; that's part of what I do for a living as a
healthy cooking coach, cooking instructor (paleo style), freelance nutrition
journalism, and conscious consumer.  People often look to me for
recommendations for sources of quality food.  I am big on supporting local
farmers.  When I find farmers (like the buy with Piedmontese beef and the
farmer with the truly free ranging fowl), I get on the phone and tell a lot
of people who then go out and buy from these farmers.

We spend more on food than many couples---and we don't mind; we've made
healthy food a top priority over a lot of luxuries many other couples and
families have, but we cannot afford to double or triple our existing food
bill to eat all organic produce and only totally range fed meat.

Rachel