Book Review - The Organic Food Shopper's Guide

The Organic Food Shopper's Guide by Jeff Cox, a former editor for Organic Gardening Magazine is a straightforward book that gives one information on the basic components of a healthy organic diet. The book begins by explaining what it means for good to be considered organic. This includes an explanation of the wordings you might see on food labels in the U.S., how pesticides, compost, genetic engineered foods fit in with organics and some information on how grocery stores must handle organics.

The rest of the book is divided into 6 sections on vegetables, fruits, nuts/seeds/grains, herbs & spices, meat/fish/dairy/eggs and kitchen staples. Each has a similar structure in that foods in that category are organics in alphabetical order. Each food has it's own section with information including:
-when the food is in season
-notable varieties of the food
-how to pick out the best/ripe foods
-how to store and prepare the food
-major nutritional highlights
-complimentary foods/flavors
-general information on the food
-the "organic advantage"
-uses
-recipes featuring each ingredient

Some of the information in this book is truly interesting. I had been searching on information about eating wild fennel I see all the time while hiking and this book finally told me what parts were usable. Some of the organic advantages were interesting, but some of the reasons were a little weak and repetitive when reading from the beginning to the end. The end of the book includes a list of resources to buy organic varieties of the food, mostly through the internet.

Even for someone like me that's been visiting the local farmers market for years and cooks nearly every meal at home, there was some new information in this book for me on ingredients I just wasn't sure about. I'd recommend this book for anyone that is just learning to cook at home or becoming more interesting in whole food and organic food cooking. I don't know if I'd read this book from beginning to end, but it's a good reference book. I could see using it as a compliment to discovering new farmers market foods, especially here in California. This book is also a bit refreshing in that you don't feel as if there are hidden motives in this information.