An Organic Breakfast

This morning, I entered Organic Foods and Cafe to find the cozy, sunlit space filled with the excited buzz of school children. Finally, finally, the weather in Dubai has cooled down enough to have a stroll in the morning, even if its just a run down to the store to pick up some oranges. And for kids to come out and learn about the good things in life such as a walk, spinach, broccoli, quinoa, Aunty Annie's organic ketchup, brown rice and recycled loo rolls.

But I am not sure how the parents would react if the kids harass them to shop at the store because "teacher says organic is much better for us then the stuff they sell at Carrefour." Obviously, schoolchildren don't have to concern their busy little heads with grocery budgets and the cost of food. For food does cost quite a bit when it's organic. Take carrots. 3 Dhs/kg in Choithram compared to around 9 Dhs/kg in Organic Foods.

So how do you feed organic to, say, a family of four without breaking the bank? Well, I don't really know myself. I have very recently woken up to what I have been putting into my own body and am still trying to figure out how to limit further damage. But here's a list of to-dos I am keeping in mind:

1- Buy more lentils, beans, rice, quinoa and wholemeal pastas. Easier on the purse, great sources of complex carbohydrates and protein. No danger of going off and ending up in the bin.

2- Eat less chicken. Can't afford more.

3- Eat even less red meat. Can't afford at all and don't fancy the saturated fat.

4- Make my own cleaners. Always fancied doing that anyway.

5- Don't beat yourself up when buying non-organic.

When I came back into the cafe, the children were seated around long tables having scrambled eggs, toast and cereal. For a moment there, the scene made me all soppy and nostalgic. I really wanted to sit down with them and talk. But they looked busy enjoying their organic breakfasts. And I came home to have mine- not organic but reasonably healthy with a bowl of oats sweetened with banana and sprinkled with omega-3 rich flaxseeds and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.