Getting Fresh.(veggies, fruits and health)(Brief Article)

I don't know much about relationships, but when it comes to grapefruit, I think it truly is better to have loved and lost rather than never to have loved at all.

Here's the deal: several years ago, I was on vacation in Florida. On my first morning there, a friend and I hadn't yet gone grocery shopping, so he suggested we pick some grapefruits off the tree in the backyard. We got out some loppers and pulled down the plump yellow fruits, collecting them in a big basket. The skins were rough and brown in some spots-- they weren't the most attractive grapefruits I'd ever seen--nevertheless, we brought them inside, cut them up, and got ready to sprinkle them with sugar. But first, I tried a bite.

It was incredible. It was the juiciest, most flavorful fruit I had ever had-- nothing at all like grapefruits I was used to buying from the store. It was sweet/tart, full of flavor, and needed no sugar. I was in heaven. I must have eaten at least 20 grapefruits that week--for breakfast, for lunch, for snacks. I couldn't get enough of them. The only thing I could attribute to the flavor was the fact that they were in season and they were "organic" -- that is, the tree had never been sprayed or treated in any way, it was just allowed to grow wild in the backyard.

That experience alone turned me onto organics. For the most part, I find that organic fruits and veggies taste so much better than the "prettier" waxed and chemical-laden versions. So I was really dismayed the other day when I ordered a salad from a local deli. I was craving greens, and ...