It’s amazing what surfaces when one goes through five years worth of research material. My office is newly spiffed up and organized, with all the research from my novel, The Still Voice, filed away.

Whatever did I think the June 2004 copy of The Smithsonian would yield for a book that takes place in Germany during World War II? I can only surmise that the article on coffee, a beverage I love, appealed to me.

There was an interesting quote in the Smithsonian article. Paul Katzeff, the CEO of Thanksgiving Coffee, said organic coffee is a “miserable waste of time--people don’t want to think about their health when they drink coffee.”

I wonder whether Katzeff has changed his mind over the last half dozen years. I tried organic coffee for the first time this past weekend. It was a European blend with a fruity aftertaste. Very nice indeed.

In the book One Bite at a Time--Nourishing Recipes for Cancer Survivors and Their Friends, author Rebecca Katz has this to say about organic foods, “The term organic typically describes food grown without chemicals, including fertilizers, insecticides, artificial coloring, and additives. Growers and manufacturers can claim their foods are organic only if they meet the standards of the Federal Organic Foods Production Act and are certified by either state or federal officials.”

About meat and poultry, Katz says, “Organic poultry is not the same as ‘free range’ products. Organic chickens and turkeys have been fed organic feed, and they haven’t been shot up with antibiotics or growth hormones. All ‘free range’ means is that your bird took a stroll someplace without being cooped up. Organic meat is also raised without drugs.”

Having just seen a segment on the raising of chickens from the documentary, Food, Inc., I plan to spend some time searching for organic chickens. I’d been wondering for some time why chicken breasts have gotten so large and so flavorless. Having seen how they are “raised” in enormous barns--packed into pens with filth and feces and no room to move--and pumped full of antibiotics it’s all become very clear.

The Food, Inc. internet site boasts this good link: http://www.eatwellguide.org/i.php?pd=Home. Click on it, enter your zip code, and you have access to pages of establishments offering good, organic food. The listing includes creameries, farmers, butchers, restaurants, and even bakeries. It’s a quick and painless way to start building a list of organic places to shop.

Speaking of shopping, Katz has a great section in her One Bite at a Time book. It’s called “Pantry Rehabilitation” and offers an interesting list of staples that should be in every healthy eater’s pantry. More on that in my next blog.