+
upworthy
Sponsored

How eating organically really does save the planet

How eating organically really does save the planet

Photo by Jacopo Maia on Unsplash

True

When I was a kid, I loved picking blackberries. I spent hours in the scalding hot sun pulling the fattest ones off the bushes and collecting them in a bucket, careful to avoid the thorns.


My dad trained me to watch for snakes, because they like blackberries too, and my mom taught me how to turn those berries into mouth watering blackberry cobbler.

If I was feeling brave, I’d accompany my dad to the big lake in the woods behind our house, where he’d hang out for hours fishing for freshwater bass. I was fascinated by the way the hook caught in their wide mouths as they twisted on the line. When he’d caught enough, we—and by that I definitely mean he—moved on to the next stage: fileting their scaly bodies with an electric knife, and prepping the meat for frying.

I didn’t realize until many years later that I was raised on a mostly organic diet, which kind of blew my mind since we were a blue-collar family living in one of the poorest parts of the state. Exactly zero members of my household knew how to recycle, and even if we did, our neck of the woods certainly didn’t offer recycling bins. I had never even heard the word “organic” until I was much older; after all, aren’t organic foods mostly for the wealthy upper class? In the words of my daddy, “that ain’t us.”

Or was it? When I really think about it, I remember eating green beans and tomatoes straight from the garden, and pecan pie made from the nuts that fell from grandma’s pecan trees. Even now, I have several friends with egg-laying chickens and a neighbor who makes homemade jam, salsa, and pickles.

Come to think of it, I was eating organic way before it was cool.

Photo courtesy of Albertsons

Organic foods are much more affordable than one might think. Even if you aren’t lucky enough to have friends or family who share their farm-fresh eggs, chances are high that there’s an Albertsons grocery store in your area. As a commitment to offer accessible, high-quality items for every budget, Albertsons seeks to make eating organic affordable for everyone. Its line of O Organics® products, offers an extensive array of high-quality, USDA Certified Organic grocery items - but what does that actually mean?

In 2000, The U.S. Department of Agriculture officially defined the term “organic” to mean that farmers do not use any form of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides to grow their produce. This method of food production is widely considered to be a far more sustainable alternative when it comes to farming. Not only is it substantially better for our bodies, but the environment as well. When it comes to meat and dairy products, the USDA Organic regulations prohibit the use of all hormones and antibiotics and require that animals be fed one hundred percent organic feed, free of animal byproducts and growth hormones, have access to the outdoors, and that producers meet animal health and welfare standards.

According to an article published by Columbia University, the lack of pesticides and a wider variety of plants on an organic farm enhances biodiversity and results in better soil quality and reduced pollution from fertilizer or pesticide run-off. When biodiversity is maintained, it allows species and organisms to work together in ecosystems, like an intricate web, to maintain balance and support life. This is how supporting organic farming helps all of us save the planet.

The gradual shift towards organic farming and consumption over recent years is due in large part to rising consumer concerns about the health impacts of unknowingly consuming pesticides and chemical fertilizers (yum, arsenic!).

Photo by Steven Weeks on Unsplash

While it might sound daunting, Albertsons makes eating organic really easy. O Organics® products are USDA Certified Organic, and certified delicious. They are made responsibly and safely. They are always Non-GMO, grown without synthetic pesticides, and easy to catch on sale through the Albertsons app or in the weekly ad. And although I do sometimes miss picking berries directly from the bush, it’s a whole lot easier to pop in and grab a container of them.

Shop O Organics only at your local Albertsons or one of their sister stores— Safeway, Vons, ACME, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, Star Market, Tom Thumb, Randalls or Pavilions!

A pitbull stares at the window, looking for the mailman.


Dogs are naturally driven by a sense of purpose and a need for belonging, which are all part of their instinctual pack behavior. When a dog has a job to do, it taps into its needs for structure, purpose, and the feeling of contributing to its pack, which in a domestic setting translates to its human family.

But let’s be honest: In a traditional domestic setting, dogs have fewer chores they can do as they would on a farm or as part of a rescue unit. A doggy mom in Vancouver Island, Canada had fun with her dog’s purposeful uselessness by sharing the 5 “chores” her pitbull-Lab mix does around the house.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

Yale's pep band had to miss the NCAA tournament. University of Idaho said, 'We got you.'

In an act of true sportsmanship, the Vandal band learned Yale's fight song, wore their gear and cheered them on.

Courtesy of University of Idaho

The Idaho Vandals answered the call when Yale needed a pep band.

Yale University and the University of Idaho could not be more different. Ivy League vs. state school. East Coast vs. Pacific Northwest. City vs. farm town. But in the first two rounds of the NCAA basketball tournament, extenuating circumstances brought them together as one, with the Bulldogs and the Vandals becoming the "Vandogs" for a weekend.

When Yale made it to the March Madness tournament, members of the school's pep band had already committed to other travel plans during spring break. They couldn't gather enough members to make the trek across the country to Spokane, Washington, so the Yale Bulldogs were left without their fight song unless other arrangements could be made.

When University of Idaho athletic band director Spencer Martin got wind of the need less than a week before Yale's game against Auburn, he sent out a message to his band members asking if anyone would be interested in stepping in. The response was a wave of immediate yeses, so Martin got to work arranging instruments and the students dedicated themselves to learning Yale's fight song and other traditional Yale pep songs.

Keep ReadingShow less

A woman looking at her phone while sitting on the toilet.


One of the most popular health trends over the last few years has been staying as hydrated as possible, evidenced by the massive popularity of 40-oz Stanely Quencher cups. The theory among those who obsess over hydration is that, when you pee clear, you’ve removed all the waste in your body and are enjoying the incredible benefits of being 100% hydrated. Congratulations.

However, according to Dr. Sermed Mezher, an NHS doctor in the UK, peeing clear isn’t always a sign of being healthy.

Keep ReadingShow less

An English doctor named Edward Jenner took incredible risks to try to rid his world of smallpox. Because of his efforts and the efforts of scientists like him, the only thing between deadly diseases like the ones below and extinction are people who refuse to vaccinate their kids. Don't be that parent.

Unfortunately, because of the misinformation from the anti-vaccination movement, some of these diseases have trended up in a really bad way over the past several years.

Keep ReadingShow less
Innovation

A student accidentally created a rechargeable battery that could last 400 years

"This thing has been cycling 10,000 cycles and it’s still going." ⚡️⚡️

There's an old saying that luck happens when preparation meets opportunity.

There's no better example of that than a 2016 discovery at the University of California, Irvine, by doctoral student Mya Le Thai. After playing around in the lab, she made a discovery that could lead to a rechargeable battery that could last up to 400 years. That means longer-lasting laptops and smartphones and fewer lithium ion batteries piling up in landfills.

Keep ReadingShow less
via PamTina_/Twitter

Pam's little brother is so sweet.

Pam has a little brother, who recently learned that he is actually her half-brother.

Of course, half-siblings are still very much siblings, but Pam's brother doesn't quite grasp the concept yet and seems upset about having to part with 50% of his sister.

Keep ReadingShow less