As we head toward the darkest day of the year, after a very challenging fall, here’s a bit of bright news for Mainers for the holidays. It’s from Health.com, which is featured on Yahoo!, and it’s a piece about “America’s 10 healthiest grocery stores.” For Mainers, the good tidings are that Hannaford, a New England chain, made number five on the list. For those who live in or around southern Maine, the news gets even better: Whole Foods (no surprise) and Trader Joe’s (ditto) also made the list at #1 and #4, respectively. 

The criteria for healthy included a large selection of organic as well as minimally processed foods without artificial ingredients. Clear labeling also garnered points, and so did locally grown food. 

Now, my favorite places to shop are either farmers’ markets or vegetable stands, but in Maine in December, these places are pretty hard to find. (However, some indoor markets are starting to sprout here and there.) This means that trips to the grocery store are a must.  

As a native Mainer who remembers the old days when supermarkets in Maine had nothing organic, I find it encouraging that they have come so far. I know there are many counterarguments, ranging from concerns about cost to questions about organic food becoming big business. The concerns are real but so is this fact: The more people eat organic food, the better it is for their bodies and the planet. My friend Sherry Hanson, who once lived in rural Illinois, has described the big machines spraying pesticides and herbicides over the fields. A rain of poison leaching into the dirt and water, and what is sprayed in Illinois does not stay in Illinois.  

So this holiday season, buy some organic food. Carrots, oatmeal, dried beans, even popcorn are all reasonably priced and are affordable for people who live on a modest budget.

When you buy organic, you’ll be giving a gift not only to yourself and your family but also to Earth. And that, dear readers, is certainly a cause for holiday cheer.