Just Ask: Bamboo Flooring and the Cost of Organic Food

Enlarge Image Image Gallery If you can’t spend a bushel on organic produce, prioritize by avoiding the conventionally grown ones (such as apples) that are most contaminated by pesticides.

Q: Why is it so expensive to go organic? By eating a bare minimum of food, I could swing it by myself, but I’m charged with feeding consume-mass-quantity types. I would be in debt buying just half our family’s monthly food consumption. It seems like you have to be rich to go organic.
Monikka Marie Jackson, Queen Village, New York

Find out what Umbra has to say about why eating organic food is so expensive. 

Q: We’re putting in new flooring. My first choice was hardwood, but I have recently read a lot about bamboo. Because it is renewable, it seems to be a better option. But how is it grown? Who is harvesting it? Are the people in the industry fair to their employees? Is it truly a better option for the environmentally conscious or is it just a marketing tactic?
Kathleen DiBacco, Darien, Illinois

Find out what Umbra has to say about bamboo flooring. 

Umbra Fisk dispenses advice on all things green for Grist Magazine (Grist.org), an online publication that tackles environmental topics with irreverence, intelligence and a fresh perspective.