Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012

Eating organic doesn’t have to be expensive

After the revelry of New Year’s Eve is over, we are faced with the cold hard truth of winter. Granted, a North Carolina winter is nothing like a Midwest winter in intensity, but it is cold and dark enough to make a person want to do nothing but curl up in front of the TV with a big bowl of popcorn.

As with all of life’s challenges, the key to surviving and thriving in the winter is to learn to work with the situation.

Of course, January is the perfect time to make changes. Hence all the talk of New Year’s resolutions.

Up until now, I had not had any brainstorms on specific, sustainable changes I wanted to implement other than the usual get more exercise, eat better, blah, blah, blah. But last week I stumbled across a couple of really do-able resolutions that will have a positive impact on my family.

It all started when I was lucky enough to score a private cooking lesson from Raleigh cookbook author/food blogger/organic enthusiast Linda Watson.

Watson’s book, “Wildly Affordable Organic” is more than just a collection of recipes. It promises to teach the reader to “Eat Fabulous Food, Get Healthy, and Save the Planet All on $5 a Day or Less.”

Watson offered to teach me to prepare steamed collards with lime-peanut sauce. I did learn how to prepare the dish – which is delicious – but I also picked up a lot of useful tips while we cooked.

We began our lesson with a trip to the State Farmers Market. I was surprised to see a plentiful assortment of fresh produce available even in the dead of winter.

At the Heaven on Earth Organics stand, we met Scott Smith, who travels from Harrells to bring his certified organic produce to the market. Smith’s passion about organic farming is infectious.

According to Smith, organically grown produce has 40 percent more nutrients than conventionally grown produce because the plants don’t have to waste precious energy recovering from damage done by pesticides. I had been thinking about organic produce in terms of what I was not getting: the pesticide residue. But when you add in the boost in nutrients, it makes it a whole lot easier to splurge for the slightly more expensive organic produce.

And Watson has done the math. “If you cook in-season foods from scratch and you don’t waste any food, you can cook organic for $5 per person per day,” she says.

So there is my first 2012 resolution: I will buy organic more frequently this year.

After selecting some beautiful collards from Smith’s stand, we headed to Watson’s home to prepare the greens.

As Watson chatted with me about her strategies to make eating well affordable, it became clear to me what my next resolution should be: I need to stop wasting so much food.

“Americans throw away about a third of the perfectly good food they buy,” she said.

Watson espouses all kinds of strategies to avoid wasting food. One, of course, is not over-buying. I am working on that one already.

Another key strategy is to use every possible part of your food. For example, Watson says, the woody stems of greens don’t have to be thrown away; if you chop them up and start cooking them five minutes before tossing the leafy greens into the pan, they will blend in perfectly with your recipe.

Watson has dozens of such tips on saving money while eating well that she shares in her book, on her website www.cookforgood.com, and at the cooking classes she teaches around town.

Her Cook for Good Fresh Start Challenge kicks off Feb. 18, so it’s not too late for any of us to adopt some healthier, thriftier habits in 2012. Details are available on the website.