Going organic has become as hot a trend as the latest Jimmy Choo shoe, but switching to organic food can be quite challenging on your wallet. The key is to start small by buying just a few organic items.
Going organic doesn’t mean you have to give up all the foods you love. There are so many organic options in supermarkets these days that it makes shopping a lot easier.
If you’re new to organics, let me explain what it’s all about. Organic foods are produced according to certain production standards and is legally regulated. For crops it means they were grown without the use of conventional pesticides, artificial fertilizers, human waste, or sewage sludge, and were processed without ionizing radiation or food additives.
For animals, it means they were raised without the use of antibiotics or growth hormones. In most countries, organic produce must not be genetically modified.
So that means that regular crops are grown with some or all of those items listed above. Sewage sludge? really? Do you want to continue ingesting toxic waste materials?
According to Pediatrician Dr. Alan Greene, author of “Raising Baby Green”, a book on how to raise a child in an environmentally-friendly way, suggests starting with the foods that make the biggest impact on a family.
1. Milk: “When you choose a glass of conventional milk, you are buying into a whole chemical system of agriculture,’’ says Dr. Greene. People who switch to organic milk typically do so because they are concerned about the antibiotics, artificial hormones and pesticides used in the commercial dairy industry. One recent United States Department of Agriculture survey found certain pesticides in about 30 percent of conventional milk samples and low levels in only one organic sample. The level is relatively low compared to some other foods, but many kids consume milk in large quantities.
2. Potatoes: Potatoes are a staple of the American diet — one survey found they account for 30 percent of our overall vegetable consumption. A simple switch to organic potatoes has the potential to have a big impact because commercially-farmed potatoes are some of the most pesticide-contaminated vegetables. A 2006 U.S.D.A. test found 81 percent of potatoes tested still contained pesticides after being washed and peeled, and the potato has one of the the highest pesticide contents of 43 fruits and vegetables tested, according to the Environmental Working Group.
3. Peanut butter: More acres are devoted to growing peanuts than any other fruits, vegetable or nut, according to the U.S.D.A. More than 99 percent of peanut farms use conventional farming practices, including the use of fungicide to treat mold, a common problem in peanut crops. Given that some kids eat peanut butter almost every day, this seems like a simple and practical switch.
4. Ketchup: For some families, ketchup accounts for a large part of the household vegetable intake. About 75 percent of tomato consumption is in the form of processed tomatoes, including juice, tomato paste and ketchup. Notably, recent research has shown organic ketchup has about double the antioxidants of conventional ketchup.
5. Apples: Apples are the second most commonly eaten fresh fruit, after bananas, and they are also used in the second most popular juice, after oranges, according to Dr. Greene. But apples are also one of the most pesticide-contaminated fruits and vegetables. The good news is that organic apples are easy to find in regular grocery stores.
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