and the winner is...

lucky laura! she wrote the following comment (but was chosen totally randomly--swear!):

Congrats on your 200th post! Unfortunately I can't commit to buying organic dairy or meat. Or options are so limited being in this small a town and it is SO expensive.

i think most of us can relate. even here in the san francisco bay area, where organic options abound, dairy and meats are considerably more pricey than their non-organic counterparts. we've switched as best we can--i buy organic milk and yogurt 100% of the time. lucy gets organic cheeses and (which jeremy and i have been known to nibble upon). the vast majority of the meat & other dairy products that i purchase are hormone-free, but not always organic. for now, i've found that eating smaller amounts higher-quality stuff (meat, particularly) has me feeling good about our diets while still keeping some money in my pocket. for some meals, we try to eliminate meat all together. tonight's dinner, for instance, is a vegan soup with biscuits on the side. the soup is chock-full of beans for protein, instead of meat.

thanks to everybody for all of your great comments. i love the general willingness to admit eco-friendly pitfalls--it helps all of us to know that we're not alone in certain things, and it's also given me great ideas for some new posts!

laura, look for an email from me really soon!