Being aware of supermarket secrets can help you navigate stores successfully -- or lead you to avoid them entirely. The business practices of the large superstores often border on the frightening. You also might want to take a look at the documentary Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price to see why getting out of the supermarket entirely might be in your best interest.

Even aside from their predatory business practices, supermarkets tend to be chock full of junk food -- and the advertising techniques they use to sell them are often aimed directly at your children. If you need to shop in grocery stores buy want to avoid these traps, you might want to check out my article on How to Shop for the Right Food in Your Regular Grocery Store in 10 Easy Steps.

But in the long run, you’d be better off getting organic food from a farmers' market or a CSA. The food will be local, which means that it will be fresher and also that it will help preserve the environment by preventing the wasteful use of fossil fuels in transportation. What’s more, organic food purchased this way does not have to be cost-prohibitive for the average family or single consumer.

In addition, organic farms:

• Feed and build soil with natural fertilizer, which is far more environmentally friendly than chemical fertilizer
• Use natural methods such as insect predators and barriers instead of insecticides
• Use crop rotation, tillage, hand weeding, cover crops and mulches rather than herbicides to control weeds

Conventionally grown food is often tainted with chemical residues, which can be harmful. Pesticides can have many negative influences on your health, including neurotoxicity, disruption of your endocrine system, carcinogenicity and immune system suppression. Pesticide exposure may also affect male reproductive function and has been linked to miscarriages in women.

If you're on the lookout for fresher, more natural sources of raw foods or more reasons why you should stay away from substandard, cheap factory food, I urge you to review my resource page supporting the great need for sustainable agriculture with many links.