Organic?

My mom is all about organic and local foods. She will spend a significant amount of money to buy an organic chicken breast over a big brand name chicken. She claims to know that these companies treat their chickens better, using fewer hormones and keeping them in better conditions. Unfortunately, this information is coming from a manipulative, biased place. We generally get our information about a certain company from said company. And, because they are trying to sell a product, we will only hear the positive aspects of their work. As an average consumer (as Hayley mentioned in class) it is close to impossible for me or my mom to parse out the details of where our food is coming from and how it is produced. Without doing research before, and probably during, our grocery shopping, we cannot fully understand what the label on each product truly means. We are manipulated by the big colorful sticker that says "Organic!" on the packaging, and we choose to buy the more expensive product despite the fact that we have no idea how much of the food item is actually organic. 

In my family's constant search for healthy, organic, and inexpensive food (yes, it's hard to find foods that share those qualities), we often end up taking trips to the closest Trader Joe's. This Trader Joe's is almost an hour and twenty minutes away from us. Not really close at all. Somehow my mom can justify making a trip of this length if we are buying organic and local foods. But, is it really justified? Realistically, there is probably a store significantly closer to us with the same or very similar quality food as Trader Joe's. In the end, I think we care more about the name Trader Joe's than the food itself. It is what we know, and we go to great lengths to get it, despite the fact that there is most likely an easier alternative. 

Basically, I need to do more research so as to avoid manipulation through food packaging and advertisements. Everyone does.