– Successful businesses are run by healthy people.
– Healthy people maintain their health through exercise, diet and choices.

Using this premise, I’ve completed the last step of my breakfast conversion so everything is now organic. Some would argue that organic food has the same nutritional value as regular items you buy at the grocery store but a recent study completed by Professor Carlo Leifert and other researchers shows that organic food is better:

The study found that organic fruit and vegetables contained as much as 40% more antioxidants.

They found that levels of antioxidants in milk from organic herds were up to 90% higher than in milk from conventional herds

Below is a list of what I usually have every morning. Sometimes I mix it up with sausage, cereal or frozen fruit sprinkled in my oatmeal. Science has known for years that eating a high protein breakfast results in improved mental alertness and productivity. It’s pure fuel for the mind that you just can’t get from a bowl of dry cereal with cow’s milk poured on top.

I have been working to make the switch to organics for just over 1 year and am happy to say I buy all my dairy and eggs from a coop. Sometimes I sneak a tub of Old Home Sour Cream from the regular grocery but overall, I’ve really been happy with the cheeses, milk, butter and ice cream from the Seward Coop.

My Standard Organic Breakfast

• Coffee by Peace Coffee, Twin Cities Blend
• Sugar, Seward Coop
• Eggs, Larry Shultz’s Organic Eggs
• Bacon, Beeler’s Hickory Smoked Thick Sliced Uncured Bacon
• Toast, Great Harvest Premium White Bread
• Butter, Organic Valley Salted Butter
• Bananas, Organic and Fair Trade from Seward Coop
• Pepper, Bulk from Seward Coop

The benefits are numerous. Not only is this more tasty than the grocery store variety (Johnsonville sausages for example), it’s affordable and I feel good after eating it. I used to have a meal like this and feel sluggish. I wanted to change this. I decided it could be the eggs which lead me to the coop. I purchased Larry Schulz’s Jumbo eggs and I was amazed at how good they tasted! I learned if your eggs have watery whites, they’re not fresh. I started buying my butter there as I noticed it didn’t “go bad” like the Land o’ Lakes butter. Most importantly, I know the animals are living better lives. Any animal raised for slaughter or produce can’t really enjoy life but eating grass and being able to walk around and interact with others of their own kind goes a very long way. I’m willing to pay for this.

Not Always Organic

Milk is non rBST from Schroeder and is not organic. I switch between this and Organic Valley milk based on price.

Sugar is purchased from the coop about 25% of the time. The other 75%, I pick up a 10lb bag at Cub Foods.

Sea salt is not listed as organic as I doubt anything from the sea is free from the effects of what we’ve dumped in for the last 500 years.

Animal Rights, Fair Trade, Safe Working Conditions

The crux of organic is that it doesn’t mean cruelty free or environmentally friendly. My goal with my food choices speak to my desire to eat good that is not contaminated while it’s being raised or in the process of getting to me as a consumer. People should get paid enough in a day’s work to support their families. Often, agricultural work in other countries does not pay people enough to do this. corporate land owners exploit people by not paying reasonable wages. Fair trade is “an organized social movement” which seeks to ensure people are paid fair market value for their contributions. Sales of fair trade are tracked and many big name organizations like Heifer International support it. I do too. Bananas were surprising. I learned they they’re often sprayed with toxic chemicals and the workers get sick. If paying $0.99/lb for organic bananas vs $0.39/lb makes for better working conditions, I can do that.

Excerpt from New Fair Trade Company takes on the Top Bananas with Oxfam’s Support

In Ecuador, the largest banana exporter in the world, the government has set the legal minimum price for bananas at $3.35 for a 40-pound box, said Jordan Bar Am, Oké USA’s operations manager. But in reality, he added, some farmers get as little as 80 cents. By contrast, bananas sold by small-scale farmers on the fair trade market command $7.75 for the same 40-pound box. “That’s the price that’s needed to cover the cost of production and allow farmers to invest in the futures of their businesses and communities, and to provide adequate health care and send their kids to schools,” said Bar Am. “Traditionally, workers get very low wages and are exposed to awful chemicals and have health problems,” said Shayna Harris, an Oxfam America coffee organizer. “The banana industry is fraught with human rights abuses.”

Buy Local

Many of these items are grown locally. What does that mean for you?

You benefits include:

• Fresher food
• Less transportation costs
• More local jobs
• More money stays in our economy rather than going to big corporations
• Supports small business owners
• Moves Minnesota and the Midwest towards a self sufficency
• Less dependence of foreign oil

Q: Don’t you have high cholesterol from eating this?

A: No. Most likely due to genetics, I have low cholesterol and low blood pressure. 10 years ago I was tested for HDL/LDL cholesterol with the proper fasting the night before, low cholesterol levels found. Again in 2007 I was tested after being on this breakfast routine for 1 year. I still had very low cholesterol and blood pressure. My consumption of red meat, milk and fast food has always been low (less than 2lbs per month, 0-1 cup per month, 1x per month) so that may be part of it.