Organic Foods -- Are They Worth the Extra Cost?

Organic foods are everywhere--walk down any aisle in the grocery store and will be sure to find several organic products. There is, of course, organic produce--you will likely find an abundance of organic fruits and vegetables in the produce department. But, did you know that you can also find products such as organic peanut butter, organic frozen dinners, organic soups, organic chocolates, and organic cereals? And that is only a small sampling of the hundreds of available organic products--these days, nearly anything you can think of has some kind of organic alternative.

So, what exactly does that mean? What is the difference between the organic grape juice and the non-organic variety, for example? Most simply put, the organic juice has been produced without any additives, preservatives, or chemicals...whereas the non-organic variety probably has preservatives or stabilizers to increase its shelf life and it might have some kind of additives to brighten the juice's color or make it taste sweeter. Some people choose to begin eating organic foods because they want to avoid chemicals such as these in their foods, but there are a lot of people who are more interested in organics because of their health benefits.

Whatever the reason, there in the last few years there has been a rather large increase in the number of people eating organic foods--and, the food manufacturers have responded to this demand by developing as many different organic products as possible. While this may have been very helpful to those who were already dedicated to organic eating, it has been confusing to the average consumer who has decided to give organics a try. Where should this average consumer start? How can this person decide which foods to buy organic and which not? And, can the average consumer even fit organic foods into the family grocery budget?