Stepping Toward Organic

Shakespeare would have been thrown. Today I was shopping for biology winning food and came across a display of beautiful roses. Out of reflex I walked over to the roses, stuck my nose in the blossoms and deeply inhaled. I paused waiting for a scent and wondered if I had been duped and mistaken plastic flowers for real.
They were "real" roses though they proved Shakespeare wrong. "That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet." Nope.

I've always thought organic food is great, just not that big of a difference for the price. I wondering now if organic food is the real cost of growing real food and the other stuffed needs to be called by another name. After returning from France, I notice a difference in the flavor of my typical diet and how I felt afterward. Dr. Clower, in his book The French Don't Diet Plan, states 'unless the sign says "locally grown" chances are that the fruit was picked green, shipped in from somewhere far away and gassed with ethylene. Ethylene is a gas produced by the combustion of kerosene, and by ripening fruit. The fruit is gassed right before it is placed in the store to de-green it. I didn't realize that. Why isn't that considered part of the information we need to know, like ingredients. I work with people who have food allergies and sensitivities, I had never thought that the 'ripening' chemicals might play a part.

When I get curious I like to create experiments. I think experiments are more fun then pure research and make a clearer point. So, I'm going to make two recipes; one with regular grocery produce and one with organic. I'm choosing to make a veggie stir fry.

Here are the ingredients: carrots, green beans, zucchini, red pepper, asparagus, mushrooms, celery, pea pods, and broccoli, garlic and herb infused extra-virgin olive oil (homemade with herbs from our garden).

Hands down the organic stir fry tasted better. The veggies cooked up more consistently and had more water in the bottom of the pan. It also cost about twice as much.

I'm sorry I didn't take pictures of the completed dish. I will with future experiments.

So, the lesson here is: locally grown and organic tastes like the food it is meant to be.