Jillian Hamilton: I met up with Danny and Hillary at the Whole Foods Market in New York City and learned there is more to organic food than meets the eye.
Your new green lifestyle can begin with that sacred first cup of coffee in the morning, but this time, go with shade grown.
What is shade grown coffee and what's the benefit of drinking it?
Danny: Well, shade grown coffee are coffee plants that are grown under trees, in the rainforest, and conventional coffee is when they cut down the rainforests and grow coffee. So if you are interested in rainforest preservation, this is where they can actually grow coffee plants and save the rainforest too.
What's great about this is they also have organic shade grown coffee, so it's like a double whammy.
Hillary: And how is the organic?
Jillian Hamilton: Right, great question.
Danny: No insecticides, no herbicides, no pesticides, which I think in coffee, I think, because you can't really wash it.
Jillian Hamilton: Oh! It's so important.
Danny: Because you brew it directly in warm water and you are literally drinking everything that's on the bean.
Organic has evolved into the mainstream. If not even the mainstream, beyond the mainstream, it has become something where organic is not only good for the planet, but in terms of quality, far better than conventionally grown produce or fruits and vegetables.
Organic produce and vegetables are grown without herbicides, insecticides, and pesticides. All synthetic chemicals that conventional farmers use to keep insects and weeds off their farms, but obviously when the sprays are put onto the conventional farms, they get onto the food.
Jillian Hamilton: Hillary, by your own admission, you are bit of a fast food, order up queen.
Hillary: I don't have a lot of time to prepare foods and I live in a busy lifestyle.
Jillian Hamilton: So are there any solutions?
Danny: You know what I love is that the organic industry has grown leaps and bounds over the years. You can actually now find pre-rinsed, premixed varieties of salads that are completely organic and ready to go. So it's sort of like you have your favorite pre-rinsed salad, that you just open and pour the dressing on and now you can get the organic variety too.
You know what's really important, there are some items that I think it's critically important to choose organic, something like lettuce, where it's grown in the ground and when it sprays, it absorbs everything into its system. You don't want it to absorb all these chemicals into its system and have it inside of them, the cellular structure of the plant.
Hillary: And you don't know just by rinsing it if all of the insecticides came out.
Jillian Hamilton: Is eating organic more expensive?
Danny: It can be, but I think like any smart shopper, you just sort of have to be savvy in your purchases and compete a little bit. Instead of getting a navel orange, maybe you get a Valencia orange, which is a $1.49.
Jillian Hamilton: So organic is affordable no matter where you live.
Danny: Yeah, totally.
Jillian Hamilton: And healthier.
Danny: Much healthier.
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