Purity, Anyone?

How many green bed & breakfast owners make an effort to serve organic? My guess would be not many. Above, an image of store-bought organic strawberries, mixed with organic raspberries, from our garden, served yesterday morning to guests for breakfast. Yum! Finding organic food is not always easy. Some companies, like King Arthur Flour, recently retired their amazing organic scone mixes, although demand should be on the rise. Serving organic requires a bit of effort and more outlay of that precious green stuff we work so hard to earn, although not necessarily as much of an outlay as the innkeeper might think …

This summer Stop & Shop in Orleans increased their selection of organic fruits and vegetables and now have a whole aisle of organic products as well. And, Lauren, at Hatch’s, in downtown Wellfleet, just received a shipment of organic fruit yesterday morning. How do I know? I was also receiving an order from Albert’s Organics, and their truck could not make it down our dirt road. The only option was to pick up the Purity organic drinks myself.

As soon as I had lugged the eight cases from the car into our shed, I grabbed a bottle of Blueberry-Pomegranate for a sip. The name says it all: PURITY! What struck me first was the absence of artificial flavor. I know that might seem like a given, but you do not remark on it until it’s not there. No more chemical aftertaste. As I took a few gulps of Purity Blueberry-Pomegranate, images of a brook, cascading over small rocks, danced through my mind. Pretty soon I was seeing blueberries bobbing along in the cool spring water.

The other flavors I purchased are Orange-Mango, Apple, and Cranberry. Did you know cranberries are among the worst offenders when it comes to pesticide residue? So, organic cranberry juice seems like an excellent idea. Knowledge of this type of thing is spreading, thanks to the EWG’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce and the proliferation of food sites like my favorite, out of Berkeley, Lettuce Eat Kale. Organic food is happening big-time in Berkeley.

While we are talking organics, please take a moment to watch this clever video from Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families and contact your legislators about the Safe Chemicals Act, currently under debate in Congress:


I will have to test Purity juice drinks on guests and see what they think …We have a regular guest who taught me to always check labels. Her daughter is allergic to peanuts, and high fructose corn syrup, a product that is not good for any of us but often finds its way into our diet.

Do you try to drink organic, as well as eat organic? Is it easy to find organic food where you live? Do you know which fruit and vegetables should only be eaten organic? Do you check labels for ingredients?