Is it worth it?

So in the States - I wouldn't normally buy organic- it is just way too expensive. Here, it's easy - you just walk up to a babushka in the market and buy whatever she has. Sometimes it is about 10 cents more per kilo but way more attractive than the grocery store produce- plus you are supporting a local granny and its organic - right?

But now in the supermarket they are selling bulk frozen veggies. And they are the same price, even a bit cheaper than the same fresh produce I can buy at the market. They are already clean, already blanched, already frozen . . . is it worth stocking up on the veggies in season and buying guaranteed organic?

These thoughts came to me as I sorted and cleaned a kilo of brussel sprouts. 1st wash them, then you cut off the bottoms, peel of the outer leaves and sort them by size. Then you blanch them for a few minutes, drain them, and pop them in the freezer. It was much more time than I actually had to give to the project so we ended up eating generous helpings of brussel sprouts the next few days as I only got 1/2 a kilo processed and frozen.

While I imagine a time of people leisurely husking corn, snapping beans, and cleaning brussel sprouts, I wonder if what people really did was just eat their food with a lot more "impurities" than what we insist on today (obviously the corn still had to be husked). Even without freezers, they would have had to dry or can or pickle the produce - that is much more time consuming than freezing. And obviously people survived, though admittedly the life expectancy was shorter - but was it due to an improperly cleaned brussel sprout? For this year at least, I'm afraid the grannies will have to find another customer for their sprouts - I just don't have the time or patience for it this year when I can buy them cleaned, blanched and frozen for the same price at the supermarket.