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Organic Food Gift Basket: A Healthy Alternative For The Holidays
By Rose Hannigan

Usually when someone gets a food basket at Christmas, it's filled with processed, over-salted products that are simply empty calories, destined to clog arteries. An organic food gift basket is an attractive alternative to the standard “summer sausage and cheese” fare. The recipient will be happier and healthier because of the thoughtful gift that may plants the seeds of healthy eating habits outside the holidays, as well.

Avoid Canned Products And Processed Meats

When committing to gifting an organic food gift food basket, it's best to stay away from the canned products usually put in hampers. Dried fruit is a good idea, because not only will it be healthier, it will keep – just remember that not all dried fruit is organic – unless it says “organic' on the package, chances are the fruit used may have been grown on farms that use chemicals either as pesticides or growing agents. An organic food gift basket will also differ from the traditional basket because there probably not be any meat in the organic basket. Meat products that can keep ten to be full of preservatives; it's best just not to have any; if you really want to have something that's a meat product, the safes bet would be something like tuna fish or dried sausage - remember when including meat in the basket, you limit the shelf life of the basket. Also note you'll have to make sure that the meat is raised organically, and not raised on hormones. There are savory snacks you can add – grocery stores often carry organic trail mix, fire mix, nuts and wasabe peas. Snacks such as these are great way to add some spice to your organic food gift basket.

Like the meat element, cheese will be something you'll probably have to avoid – organic cheese is fresh, so you'll need refrigeration. Cheese that can be left out in a package is probably filled with additives and preservatives, and will not be as organic, or probably as healthy as the other snacks. An alternative would be organic cheese-flavored crackers. More expensive than the usual Triscuits or Ritz, like the savory snacks, the crackers will give something to the organic food gift basket for someone with more than just a sweet tooth.

Candy is another important ingredient in your basket – again, simply running to your local candy aisle in the grocery store won't do – commercial candy, for the most part, resemble chemistry sets. Seeki9ng out places that make their own candy is a great idea – wonderful ideas would be candied ginger, candied fruit peels, chocolate-covered bridge mix; again make sure with the store manager or owner that the candy is organic; unless you're in a specialty store such as Whole Foods, you will have probably have to go over the ingredients with the store owner to ensure that what you're buying is organic.

Author Details:
Rose Hannigan, copywriter for various web sites writing articles and contributing to sites such as Information Junkie & The A-Z of.

Article Source: Free Articles

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