Healthy, Organic & On the Road: A Dilemma
The holiday season really got me thinking about how to maintain a healthy, mostly organic diet while traveling. The traffic down Route I-95 reminded me that I’m not the only one with this challenge.
Sure, you can pack healthy snacks to combat hunger while on the road. But when traffic pile-ups occur, or fatigue sets in, there’s no substitute for pulling off the highway and into a restaurant. But where to go? Even those who normally avoid fast food will confess that fast food restaurants can seem like welcome outposts off a major interstate. So it’s at these roadside McDonalds, Denny’s and Pizza Huts that you will find the bewildered vegetarians and organic foodies, desperately looking for something – anything – healthy to eat. And while some of these fast food restaurants have made great strides in offering healthier options, the food is not organic or locally grown. Sometimes it doesn’t even taste fresh!
Following is a listing of the best options I’ve found for organic on-the-go eating that should be easily accessible from most major interstates. No, they’re not perfect – I still dream of Broccoli Heaven, my fantasy roadside snackbar. But they’ll do in a pinch! What’s been your experience? Leave a comment and share!
Panera Bread – Panera features two kids’ menu items with partial organic ingredients – a grilled organic American cheese sandwich and a “Kid’s Deli” sandwich, which is organic cheese with your choice of roast beef, ham or turkey. Both items are served with Horizon organic milk* and Horizon squeezable organic yogurt.
Target – Yes, Tar-zhay! The in-store cafes feature a Kids organic mac n’ cheese meal, which is served with Horizon squeezable organic yogurt and Horizon organic milk. True confessions: as our local Target overlooks busy railroad tracks, which my 5-year-old son adores, I am a frequent diner at Target. That’s how I know that they are often sold out of the squeezable organic yogurt. This poses a problem when the well-meaning clerk asks if my son would like “fruit snacks” instead – as in the high fructose corn syrup, GMO variety. Of course, he would like some of this “special treat” – some GMO corn syrup and sugar to go with his organic meal! Arrggh….
Chipotle – While Chipotle does not have purely organic meals, some of its beans are organic, and its chicken and pork are sourced from non-factory farms. Chipotle also recently announced that it would serve only rBGH-free sour cream at its more than 530 restaurants. For a cool graph that shows where Chipotle’s “naturally raised” meats are available nationwide, click here.
* You may have heard of claims that Horizon milk is not truly organic. There were lawsuits filed alleging that the cows were not being treated in accordance with organic standards. However, the suits did not allege that the cows have been treated with growth hormones or antibiotics or fed unnatural substances, as can be the case with conventional milk. Given this, Horizon organic milk is a better choice than the conventional milk available at these fast food outlets.
Copyright 2008 OrganicMania
Filed under Food, Organic Product Needs, Organic Restaurants, Organics, Product Recommendations, Tips, Where to Buy Organics | Wordpress Comments (2) |A New Organic Market: Roots
The latest buzz in the DC burbs? A new organic market in Olney, Maryland. Despite 20 years in DC and its close-in suburbs, I’ve never ventured out to Olney, but after hearing my waiter at Bethesda’s Black’s Restaurant rave about Roots Organic Market, I decided it was worth the trip.
Nowadays, it’s not unusual for a family shopping for a mix of organic and conventional food and cleaning supplies to visit two or even three grocery stores to satisfy their needs. Then there are “Organic Maniacs” who frequent specialty organics grocery stores like Whole Foods, Trader Joes and MOM’s Organic Market, conventional grocery stores with organic sections such as Safeway and Giant, neighborhood health food stores a la Yes! Natural Gourmet, Balduccis gourmet grocer, the local co-op, and then top it all off with a weekly trip to a CSA.
Add Roots to the list! I felt like a jaded New Yorker given my organic shopping habits – I was just not prepared to be impressed by a store a solid 40 minutes from Northwest DC. But impressed I was.
I had barely walked in the door when I spied the hot mulled cider, free for the taking. This was just the start of more food samples than I’ve ever encountered in any grocery store. I enjoyed noshing on organic samples including pizza, apples, pears, cookies, biscotti, brownies, crackers with cheese, and chips with guacamole. And to top it all off, organic champagne!
The store is quite upscale – from its design to its product selection, which ranges from raw foodist to vegan to meat eater and seemingly everything in between. Non-food items include books, household cleaning items, make-up, and clothing. In fact, I saw products that I’ve not seen at the other (gulp) nine organic and conventional grocers I frequent. The service is as attentive as Nordstrom’s – three employees asked if they could be of assistance during my twenty minute stay in the store.
Prices are similar to Whole Foods. To help save a bit of money, take advantage of the fact that Roots heavily promotes coupon savings where products are displayed. You simply request the coupons at check-out. They also offer monthly sales circulars, which you can peruse on their website or in the store.
This store so intrigued me that I’ll be writing more about it in a future post. Let me know if you visit!
— Lynn
Filed under Food, Organic Prices, Organics, Where to Buy Organics | Wordpress Comments (2) |Organic Chocolate on Sale!
Last month, when I wrote a post about the Best Store-Bought Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever, my cyberbuddy Sher from Wrekehavoc.com passed along a recommendation for Green & Black’s Organic Dark Chocolate.
Ever faithful to the cause of ferreting out truly worthwhile organic products, I tried Green & Black’s, and just as Sher said, it’s “da bomb.” And of course, purely in the name of research, I couldn’t just stop after sampling the dark chocolate Sher recommended. No, I had to try the luscious raisin & hazelnut and the espresso flavors too.
Now I’m happy to pass along the news that Giant is offering Green & Black’s for the sale price of two bars for $5. That’s a savings of $1.19 off the regular price. But hurry, the sale ends tomorrow – December 27.
–Lynn
Filed under Organic Prices, Organics, Product Recommendations, Where to Buy Organics | Wordpress Comments (3) |The Best Store-Bought Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever
I’ve found the best store bought chocolate chip cookies ever – Newman’s Own® Organics Espresso Chocolate Chip Champion Chip Cookies. At first I was going to keep quiet about eating chocolate chip cookies because I tell everyone that I’m working really hard on getting the remaining baby weight off. But since I started this blog in part to report on great organic products, I would be remiss in not telling you that these cookies are really, really good. In fact, purely in the name of research, I have been eating my way through a bag I bought for DH just so that I can accurately report on what makes these cookies so delicious. It’s the chocolate chips that are melt-in-your-mouth soft. They’re not hard like they often are in store-bought cookies. The organic chocolate is scrumptious, with just a hint of fine espresso. And they taste fantastic with a good cup of coffee! What’s more, they’re on sale for $2.19 per 10 ounce bag at MOM’s Organic Market. Enjoy!
Filed under Food, Organic Prices, Organics, Tips, Where to Buy Organics | Wordpress Comments (5) |Quick Interview: Organics vs. Conventional Foods – Mothers & Menus Founder, Author of The Well Rounded Pregnancy Cookbook, Karen Gurwitz
New and expectant Moms in Manhattan enjoy fresh, organic, home-delivered meals, thanks to Mothers & Menus founder Karen Gurwitz. Fresh from her recent launch of The Well Rounded Pregnancy cookbook, Karen sat down to talk with Organicmania about the organics vs. conventional food debate.
Organicmania: I recall when Mothers & Menus first launched, you positioned your service as a “healthy” meal delivery service. Now some of your promotional materials describe Mothers & Menus as an “organic” meal delivery service. Why did you make the switch to organic?
Karen Gurwitz: Actually, that evolved over time when I was able to find a more complete range of organic products. But to me, the emphasis really should be on “healthy” versus “organics.” Sometimes fresh conventional produce makes more sense than organic food.
Organicmania: So you don’t think mothers should make a point of buying only organic foods?
Karen Gurwitz: You know, it’s not all or nothing. I think mothers, especially new mothers, need to do what works for them. Moms have to do what makes sense for them and for their families. And organics can be expensive. If a Mom can afford organics, great. If not, there are good conventional alternatives available. Eating real, whole foods is what is really important for good health.
Organicmania: What exactly do you mean by “whole foods?”
Karen Gurwitz: Whole foods are foods that are minimally processed and as close to their original form as possible. Whole foods are especially helpful during and right after pregnancy as they contain fiber, water, complex-carbohydrates and minerals. Whole foods are easier to process, alleviating you of the fatigue associated with digestion, and supporting optimum energy and health.
Organicmania: What do you think is the most important aspect of organic food?
Karen Gurwitz: First and foremost, the health benefits. To me, it makes more sense to eat food that hasn’t been tampered with in terms of chemicals and pesticides. I also love the gentle effects of organic farming on the earth. And, in the final taste test, I find that food tastes better with organic ingredients.
Organicmania: Karen, you’re a busy Mom with your own business, three kids, and a new book. How do you do it all?
Karen Gurwitz: I have a wonderful husband who supports me. And sometimes — I don’t do it all! I think that as moms we put too many expectations on ourselves. Some days are more productive than others. But in the end, I love what I do, and I hope to inspire my children, especially my daughters, to be all that they want to be.
Organicmania: What’s next for you, Karen? When can we get Mothers & Menus outside of the Big Apple?
Karen Gurwitz: Stay tuned. Mothers & Menus has already tested in Florida and Boston and gotten great results. It’s critical for me to maintain the food quality and a high level of customer service. I plan to make some announcements about that in the second quarter of 2008 – sign up for my newsletter for more information.
— By Lynn / Copyright Organicmania 2007
Filed under Baby, Food, Interviews, Organic Mommypreneurs, Organics, Organics vs. Conventional Foods, Parenting, Pregnancy | Wordpress Comments (2) |“Green Halloween”
If you’ve only just heard of the Green Halloween movement, don’t feel like you’re out of touch. It just launched this year, and its goal, as you might guess, is to make Halloween healthier for kids and the environment. Who can argue with that? This year I’ve been especially struck by the encroachment of still more Cheap Plastic Crap into Halloween parties, costumes, and decorations. Back in “the olden days” when I was a kid, we bobbed for apples and made our own costumes!
Whole Foods is a platinum sponsor of Green Halloween. So I headed over to Whole Foods expecting to see a wide range of environmentally correct Halloween items. Perhaps something from their well priced 365 Everyday Value line. Instead, I found a bunch of Very Expensive organic chocolates. Perfect for an adult Halloween party, but way out of line for trick-or-treating. The only thing I could find that was relatively affordable was a large sack of individually wrapped pretzel bags.
I looked online at fair trade chocolates and found some delicious looking options, but at $12 a bag they were simply too expensive. In my neighborhood, we can expect to run through six bags of candy on Halloween. That would be more than $80 with shipping! What’s more, the chocolates needed to be ordered really early – by October 17th! That would never do. And online shopping made no sense when I realized that my five-year-old was very excited about the prospect of buying the candy we would be giving out to trick-or-treaters.
So back to the bricks-and-mortar retailers. The shelves at Safeway and Giant were full of same-old, same-old bags of traditional chocolate treats. On a whim, I headed over to CVS. There, alone on a shelf I spied a Hershey’s Organic Chocolate bar. It was far too large for trick or treating, but it did give me hope. It gave me hope because only a company as large as Hershey has the capacity to bring organic chocolates to the trick or treating masses at a reasonable price point. In the course of researching this post, I learned that earlier this month, Hershey acquired organic candy purveyor Dagoba Chocolates, a sure sign that Hershey is taking the organic market seriously.
Wouldn’t it be great if by next Halloween we could give out organic Hershey’s Kisses, priced at a reasonable level? As for this year, I must confess that this OrganicManiac couldn’t justify the price of organic candy. Perhaps I didn’t look early enough or hard enough, but frankly, reasonably priced bags of organic Halloween candy shouldn’t be so hard to find.
So what are we giving out this year? The old traditional favorites: Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, Kit Kats, Milky Ways, and Krackle. Three big bags for $5 at Target. My kindergartner was thrilled to pick the candies out himself.
Next year I hope I can point him to a reasonably priced selection of organic Halloween candy, available at a local store.
In the meantime, Happy Halloween.
— Lynn
Copyright 2007, Organicmania
Filed under Cheap Plastic Crap, Food, Holidays, Marketing, Organic Prices, Organics, Parenting | Wordpress Comments (2) |Organic Baby Food for a Penny More than Conventional!
My last post mentioned the downward pricing pressure in the organic market. I’ve never seen better evidence of this than today, when I noticed a sale on Safeway’s O Organics line of jarred baby foods. Now through Sunday, November 11th you can purchase 10 jars of organic baby food for $6. That’s just 60 cents per 4 ounce jar, or 15 cents per ounce. Sitting right down the shelf from the O Organics is conventional Gerber baby food, priced at 59 cents per jar. Yes, that’s right – this means that you can buy organic jarred baby food for just a penny more than conventional jarred baby food.
If you prefer the name brand Earth’s Best, you can grab that on sale too – 12 jars for $9.49 – that’s just 79 cents per jar, versus it’s regular price of $1.05 per jar at Safeway.
Don’t interpret this as an ad for Safeway – I have no connection to the store other than the fact that I’ve probably spent tens of thousands of dollars there over the years!
A key reason I launched this blog was to help parents make sense of their organic purchases. And what makes better sense than buying organic when it’s just a penny a jar more than conventional baby food?
Best news – I asked the customer service rep if this sale is nationwide, and she said yes. It’s a nationwide in-store only sale. So head out to Safeway and shop, shop, shop! — Lynn
Copyright 2007, Organicmania
Filed under Baby, Food, Marketing, Organic Prices, Organics, Parenting | Wordpress Comments (2) |New York Times Lists Top 5 Organic Foods, Misses One
This week Tara Parker-Popes’ excellent health blog on the New York Times site listed the top five organic family foods. On her list are milk, potatoes, peanut butter, ketchup and apples. Great choices to be sure, but how can one talk about organic family foods and not include something for baby? Baby’s brain and body are growing so quickly that nutritious food is a must, and baby’s developing immune, central-nervous, and hormonal systems are highly vulnerable to environmental toxins.
Today, there are more organic choices available to parents than ever before. There have been a slew of new organic product introductions in recent years. This growing organic competition means that there is finally some downward pricing pressure in the organic market, and so good deals can be found if you shop around and compare prices on baby food. Some manufacturers even offer coupons, and Big Box retailers like Target and Walmart carry organic baby food as well. While organic baby food is still more costly than conventional food, the price difference is not as great as one might expect.
Some of the options available among jarred foods include: Earth’s Best, Gerber Organics, Healthy Times and Organic Baby. In the DC metro area, where I shop, the best prices are on Gerber Organics. However, for just a few more cents, you can get far more interesting food combinations with Organic Baby, available at Mom’s Organic Market.
A relatively new category is frozen organic baby food. Although not as widely available as jarred organic baby food, and somewhat more expensive, this is a very convenient way to provide healthy organic food for baby. Brands available include: include: Baby Cubes & More, TastyBaby and Plum Organics. Like so much else with the organic movement, there is more choice available in California, but many of these products will soon be available nationwide.
But perhaps the best – and least expensive – way to give baby a wide variety of organics is to give him pureed or steamed organic food or biodynamic foods. An easy way to do this with very young babies is to purchase small trays, similar to ice cube trays, which can be used to store small portions of pureed foods. Follow the guidelines your pediatrician provides regarding food introduction.
And remember, the habits you instill today in baby’s diet will lay the foundation for a lifetime of good health.
— Lynn
Copyright 2007, Organicmania
Filed under Baby, Food, Organics, Parenting | Wordpress Comments (3) |
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