Organic Food Poll Closed

66% of respondents last week said they look specifically for organic foods but can’t find everything they need in organics. 33% said food’s food whether it’s organic or not.

At our house we are the “I look specifically for organic foods but can’t find everything we need in organics” type. My husband would love to be able to grow all of our own vegetables at least, but we have a hard time doing that with the soil in San Antonio. One of my goals for the summer is to get him a composter (the round bucket that you can rotate) which would help with the soil problem.

I think another difficulty with buying all organic is that since the food isn’t treated with chemicals, it doesn’t last as long. I don’t know about everyone else, but I hate to grocery shop (and farmer’s markets usually are Fridays here when I’m working). So when I do shop, I try to buy for the week (or longer if I could). If I get organic fruits and veggies, a lot of them end up going bad before they get eaten because they don’t last as long as the other stuff. So it’s hard, and I think it’s especially hard for some folks because the organic stuff is a lot more expensive – thus it doesn’t last as long and it has a higher cost. I can see why people wouldn’t always buy organic.

I do wish that more people would grow their own produce though. What do you think holds people back from doing that?

To Hybrid or Not? The Votes Are In…

Last week’s poll asked about why you don’t drive a hybrid (if you didn’t, obviously). 33% of you cited the price (they’re too expensive), 16% said you can’t afford a new car right now, 50% said they’re too small usually, and 50% indicated there were other reasons. I was interested to see that nobody chose the “I can’t work on it myself and don’t want to pay any repair bills” option.

When we bought our Toyota Prius (2007), my husband got upset that I chose to buy it because he kept telling me, “I don’t know how to work on it. I don’t even know where the spark plugs are and how to replace them. I don’t even know if it has spark plugs.” While we haven’t had many issues with it, we have learned some things about it such as how to change the oil (it’s not much different than a non-hybrid except it requires synthetic) and how to change the headlamps (the driver’s side one is a nightmare while the passenger side one has directions for it in the manual).

As for the price, I think that as more hybrids are designed that the price will come down. So you may be waiting for that to happen before you buy one, and I understand that. Mine, used, was even $17K or so (I don’t remember, maybe I’m trying to block it out). And the size? You all are right, at least about the Prius. I bought it when I was without child LoL. Now, it’s definitely small. The hatchback is a good size, but when it’s got a stroller in there there’s not much room for anything else. But we have road tripped to Grandma’s (2.5 hour drive) with me, Mike, Si, and the two dogs and our gear comfortably. I also have to say that my husband is 6 feet 8 inches and he can fit into it (although it may not look like it at first glance). So height of the driver shouldn’t be an issue for most people.

What I can say is that the gas mileage and lower carbon footprint, for us, definitely balance out the size issue. Especially when gas prices started to rise, I was happy with my purchase and would definitely do it again. We usually get 400+ miles to a tank of gas. Not many cars can do that for you. If you’re in the market for a car and are interested in a hybrid, definitely check out the Prius.

Summer Trips or Not Poll Results

Ok, I’m sad. Only three people voted in this week’s poll. Two said they plan summer trips and one said that they don’t work any differently in the summer than they do during the year so they don’t plan summer trips.

This summer we’re planning on doing some Sea World tripping (not really a trip since we live in San Antonio) and we’re planning on going back to Hamilton Pool Preserve. What are some of your fun summer ideas?