GUEST POST: NICHOLE ON GOING ORGANIC

HOW I CAME TO EAT ORGANIC FOODS AND WAYS IT HAS IMPROVED MY LIFE

The Neighborhood Garden member, Nichole, shares her personal story of going organic.

Exhausted.  That was how I felt, all the time.  I couldn’t keep up with my then five-year-old daughter. I lacked the energy to play outside.  I never, in my wildest dreams, imagined that any of this could be linked to the foods I was consuming.  

I began a new workout and was challenged with trying to eat differently.  I began weeding out all the processed foods.  I saw a dramatic increase in my energy level.  I was having fewer headaches.  I was sleeping better. The combination of eating healthier, working out, and the result of feeling markedly better only spurred my interest into why.  Why was I feeling better than I had in years?   

So, as I often do, I began researching.  I learned from the US Environmental Protection Agency that when consumed, “pesticides can cause health problems, such as birth defects, nerve damage, cancer, and other effects that might occur over a long period of time . . . (and) some pesticides also pose unique health risks to children." Click here to read the EPA piece.

I mean, sure, I had heard that pesticides were bad for us, but I had been consuming non-organic, sometimes unwashed, produce my entire life, and I’m fine...right?  I suppose it really dawned on me that I hadn’t been fine.  That I don’t want my daughter to struggle with any of the “unique health risks” particularly posed to children from consuming pesticides.  I needed to find a way to feed her healthy foods and not break the budget.   

Then, a dear friend mentioned that she buys her organic produce from a co-op.  As is typical, I researched.  The co-op seemed reputable, reliable, and affordable.  We have been purchasing food from jaxorganic.com for almost a year now.  I couldn’t be more pleased with the results of always having healthy, organic foods available!   

I want to eat healthy.  My daughter still struggles some, but she is six.  She does enjoy trying the new fruits we’ve received.  I have had to learn how to cut open a pineapple, pomegranate, and other things I would never have thought to purchase.  She loved those!   

Thanks!