if you needed a kick-in-the-ass for getting on the organic bandwagon, well here are a few articles that you need to read.
http://www.beyondpesticides.org/health/
http://www.cornucopia.org/2010/08/studies-link-range-of-major-diseases-to-pesticides-new-database-launched/
http://www.beyondpesticides.org/organicfood/conscience/index.htm
just sayin'. i absolutely can-not buy foods that aren't organic anymore. that isn't to say that i can't eat them (like when we aren't at home), but i can't buy them. at home, we are 100% organic. that is one-hundred percent. from our juice to our sugar to our noodles to cookies and fruit and condiments and everything in between. cheese too. butter, milk, eggs... you name it. wonder how we afford it? we don't buy meat AND we eat less. what did that do for us? we lost weight (we needed to). also eating unprocessed foods is more satisfying thus you don't have constant cravings. it is like an all natural low-carb (rather, low glycemic) diet. we eat little bread and little raw sugar. we drink water rather than soda or tea or anything else. even our kids ask for water (i swear i have the only kids in the world that ask for water). we eat lots of fruits and veggies. (technically nuts and beans are veggies.) so anyway, we do all this on the same budget as before. well, maybe less than before. so, it can be done. the conversion is hard because you have to go through that same detox like when you switch to a "low carb" diet - you have to "get off" the refined sugars and chemicals that you are probably eating now. you WILL go through withdrawals!!!
incidentally, i shopped at an earthfare this past weekend in briar creek and they are like a food lion of whole foods (more affordable than gourmet). great store. they even had a non-food dye laden version of m&ms in the bulk bin (and in bags, but i got the bulk - cheaper) called sunspire sundrops. SWEET! and at $9.59 a pound, we'll only be eating 5 at a time! :) portion control right there!!! (so you know how many that is, a little less than a pound fills a 1/2 pint glass jar.) holly loves m&ms. these actually taste better than m&ms. try some if you see some! (or order some online!) i've never seen these at whole foods.
I Love your comment on "my kids ask for water." My 4 and 2 yr old do the same. We never introduced them to juice or anything else besides almond milk. They will on occasion drink Harmless Harvest coconut water (if I add a drop of stevia in it). My son will ask "can I have water with ice" or "cold cold water." Googled dye free m&m's and your blog came up. Will def take a look and read through it. That is so great to hear about the organic that your family does. I have switched a lot of things in our household also. Still trying to get my husband on the wagon of healthier eating. I bake only vegan and do my best to keep my little ones away from processed food. Its hard when my husband comes home with the junk and then not expect the little ones to say "Can I have one." Soon he will be on board. Did get him to switch to almond milk.
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