Certified Organic Human: UPDATED!

So this man named Alan Greene happened to be standing in a field of organic cows one day, and he suddenly wondered what it would take to become certified organic as a human, if such standards existed. He set off on a year-long quest to eat only organic foods, and he documented his journey in a blog.

A practicing pediatrician and a father of four, Dr. Greene has a long laundry list of credentials:

Dr. Greene is the Pediatric Expert for Yahoo!, Rob Reiner’s ParentsAction.org, and NPR’s The People’s Pharmacy. He is the author of From First Kicks to First Steps (McGraw-Hill, 2004), The Parent's Complete Guide to Ear Infections (People's Medical Society, 1997), and a co-author of The A.D.A.M. Illustrated Family Health Guide (A.D.A.M., Inc., 2004). He is the medical expert for three additional books, The Parent's Soup A-to-Z Guide to Your New Baby, (Contemporary Books, 1998) The Parent's Soup A-to-Z Guide to Your Toddler, (Contemporary Books, 1999), The Mother of All Baby Books, (Hungry Minds, Inc., 2002).

And now, when you go to Dr. Greene's website, you will find an exhaustive list of articles about organic food and issues. I call your attention, especially, to this.

I loved reading Dr. Greene's journey, and was particularly impressed at the lengths he went to stick with his organic commitment, including calling up chefs and meeting planners prior to attending work functions in order to arrange an organic option. For me, work and social functions are the hardest part of being a vegetarian (since sufficient, meal-worthy vegetarian options are often simply not offered), and as for organic, I have found that unless I make almost all my own food, I just don't have enough organic choices "out there."

So, if you are interested in switching to organic foods, or increasing the amount you eat in your daily life, I think you'll enjoy reading about Dr. Greene's journey. He inspires me to try harder out there, and to ask for organic options more often, even if it's just to show that there is a demand.

So now, when I think about "greening my life," it's hard not to think also about Dr. Greene.

UPDATE: January 22, 2008

Just heard from Dr. Greene's wife, Cheryl:

Hi, Pattie!

Dr. Greene is taking questions this week on the New York Times and would love to have some great organic questions submitted. You can submit your questions here.

Thanks so much,

Cheryl

Certified Organic Human: UPDATED!