Warning soap box moment follows:
In reality "organic" simply one food option, one of many that are out there. Isn't it great that food is so affordable and available that we have those options?
(end soap box moment)
So, yeah, I have a visceral reaction whenever someone uses the term "organic". To the point where when I am shopping for certain ingredients for various cooking and baking projects I feel a certain sense of pride when I pull the non-organic product from the shelf. Part of me thinks it feels lonely and unloved compared to its organic buddy which is seeing plenty of attention (depends on the grocery store, of course), and part of me is simply cheap - let's face it, organic costs more to produce and that cost plus all of the other supply/demand and exclusivity pricing mumbo-jumbo from my college microeconomics class is what leads to the bigger dollar amount on the package.
In the last couple years I've gotten into home baked bread. I can count on one hand the number of store-bought loaves that have been in my house in the last year - usually a last minute garlic bread purchase but occasionally sliced sandwich bread. I really like the no-knead technique in the series of cookbooks by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois (http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/). Basically, you mix up a batch of dough, let it rise for two hours, and then throw it in the fridge and cut off the amount you need until you use it up in 10-14 days.
I've really gotten into their second book which focuses on whole-grain breads. And thanks to that, my kitchen counter now looks like this:
Yes, that is all flour or whole grains. Well, except for the containers of kosher salt and cornmeal. My sugars live on the other side of the kitchen, right next to the regular all-purpose flour and the stand mixer. Somewhere in the cabinet is my self-rising and cake flour, mostly because they don't see the light of day very often. (And yes, I use cute cookie cutters, rolling pins, and pizza peals for wall decorations. Another wall has grilling baskets and prongs. Small kitchens require creative storage.)
So here's a quick roll-call of this corner of the kitchen: regular whole wheat flour, white whole wheat flour, bread flour, rye flour, spelt flour, oat flour, buckwheat flour, wheat bran, oat bran, ground flaxseed, 10-grain hot cereal, wheat berries, oat groats, buckwheat groats, raw pumpkin seeds, raw sunflower seeds, and other various seeds for sprinkling on loaves.
Which brings me to my organic guilt issue. Many of these unique and unusual whole-grain products are only available at the local health-food store. Which means they are usually organic too. Every time I pull in to the parking lot I find myself glancing over my shoulder to see if anyone I know notices me there. I quickly dart through fresh produce and make a bee-line to the bulk foods section. If I can't find it there, I cross my fingers that it will be in the gluten-free baking section (which gets it's own aisle sign, but not the regular baking ingredients right next to it on the shelf). I stand in line at the checkout pondering the health benefits of organic chocolate truffles and potato chips in the impulse-buy displays (organic junk food is still junk food, right?). I cringe at the register total, curse myself for forgetting a reusable shopping bag, and briskly head to the parking lot.
I don't purposely buy organic, but it does help that the pro-organic folks really like these odd ingredients. Otherwise there would not be enough demand to justify processing and selling these items. So does this mean I should be thankful for the organic movement? Maybe. Just so long as they recognize that choice is a good thing.
Now, I believe there is another loaf of buckwheat bread about to come out of the oven... which will shortly make acquaintance with the regular store brand butter that was on sale last week.
