First things first – exactly what does organic mean? In brief, organic farming is done without toxic pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. Organic farming tends to prevent topsoil from eroding and helps keep toxic substances from running into ground water. To be considered organic, foods must not have been produced using antibiotics, synthetic hormones, genetic engineering, or irradiation (sterilized using x-ray technology).

For our families at Living the Science, the single best way we have found to absolutely insure that we have quality organic fruits and vegetables in the house at all times is to HAVE IT DELIVERED. This is an absolutely automatic process for most us. In general, they take the money from our account automatically each week and in return they leave a big box of great looking produce on our porch every Friday. It is so incredibly wonderful to know that no matter what – we will have fresh fruits and vegetables on the weekend. If you aren’t doing this and find yourself stopping into the local store and grabbing a bunch of non-organic produce (because its easy and its cheaper) then setting this up may be a really good way to insure that you and your family are eating safer (and doing a favor for the environment at the same time).

There are several types of organic food delivery services. Some are services that use many farms and some services are from one farm only or a co-operative of farms. One good company in Northern California is  Planet Organics. The thing we like about them (Bay area only) is that you can go online and pick exactly what you want or you can leave it to them. They will also deliver all kinds of other organic foods including dairy and meats. A produce box that lasts a family of 3 or 4 for most of the week costs about $40 – pretty reasonable these days.

Community Supported Agricultural (CSA) cooperatives are a great way to get food delivered. CSA cooperatives involve consumers in the farming process. Basically, you pay into the cooperative a small amount every month (about $20 to $40 a delivery depending on the amount you want) and in turn, they deliver their organic goods to you weekly or every two weeks. Many CSAs try and involve their customer partners in the farming process by hosting family-centered activities. One small drawback to these programs is that you have less variety (what you get is mostly based on the growing season). On the other hand, you get introduced to produce that you may not generally choose. Local Harvest is a great organization for connecting consumers with CSAs in their area. Basically you enter your zip code and they provide you with contact information. You can even order food directly through the site.

Now about all those other non-produce food stuffs – a few words of wisdom (unless you are independently wealthy). If you are lucky enough to have a wonderful store like Whole Foods in your community you know how great it is to be able to find super fresh organic produce, dairy, packaged foods and meats easily – great that is until you get to the check-out and start seeing $6 for chips, $8.50 for cookies, $7 for pasta etc… . For many, these kinds of prices lead to less than automatic behavior when it comes to weekly shopping.

We are really lucky to have several Trader Joes stores near us and quite frankly, if you don’t you are missing out. Although their produce is often dismal, they have great organic meats, dairy, and all kinds of organic and chemical free food and even some natural household cleaners and recycled goods – all this and the prices are really good – cheaper than what you would pay for the non-healthy stuff at the regular grocery store.

If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s or another reasonably priced and well stocked natural foods store nearby then by all means try making many of your organic choices automatic by ordering them online. Having a well-stocked supply or organic packaged foods means you will always have healthy staples around. Even with shipping costs (which are sometimes waived) you will often pay less than you would have if you had bought them at a high priced natural foods store. This is particularly true if you buy in larger quantities which can save you money in the long run on shipping (not to mention that it saves some gas and oil as well).

Special Note: Ordering Baby and Toddler Food Online

Although it is getting easier to find organic powdered baby formula in stores as well as organic rice cereal and other baby food it is a real drag when something you rely on is out – and this happens a lot with organic baby and toddler food. One way to really prevent this is to get in the habit of making your own baby food. If you are getting that weekly box of food delivered then it can be pretty easy (and sometime fun) to prepare large batches of baby goods and then freeze them (preferably in non-plastic containers). There are many good organic baby food cookbooks out there which also provide some guidance about when and what kinds of food to introduce to babies and young toddlers.

Having pointed out the benefits of making your own baby food, there are a few food items that you will generally need to or want to buy. Items to stock up on include organic baby formula, rice cereal, crackers, veggie snacks. As any parent knows, switching from a cracker a baby or toddler knows to something new can be a MAJOR big deal so having enough around is key. It is important to note that switching abruptly from some foods to others can be hard on a baby’s system. This is particularly true with respect to baby formula.

Organic Wine

For those of us who enjoy wine drinking and also have a bent towards thinking organic, up until a few years ago organic varieties of wine were few and far between and quite frankly, they weren’t all that great. This has really changed and now you can find all sorts of really good organic wines – you just have to know where to look and online is an absolutely great place to do that given that your selection is much greater. You can find some sites where the organic wines have been carefully chosen - one great resource is Morrell and Company who offer well reviewed and high quality organic wines. Using a wine merchant can help take some of the guesswork involved out of the process compared to when you select one of a small handful of organic wine choices that are available at your local store.

Grow It Yourself

If you have any room in your backyard, on a porch or even in a bright sunny room consider planting FOOD. Even if you lack a green thumb this is a great way to be completely in control of your food and make sure pesticides don't get anywhere near them. It is also a great way to get kids involved with their food and can encourage healthy choices. There are lots of really good organic gardening books out there and many good places to buy fruit plants and organic vegetable seeds.

This Article was Part 3 of 7 in the Automating Less Toxic Choices series
Read introduction to the series

Read Part 4: Personal Care and Cosmetics

Read other parts in the series: Bring Water with You, Green Cleaning, Reevaluate Your Relationship with Plastics, Clothes and the Chemicals They Come With.