Organic Foods: Really Worth the Cost?

​Do you buy certified organic food for your family?  
I do when I really know it matters.  It depends on if I know and trust the supplier of my food.  It also depends on if it's a food known to be heavily sprayed with toxins or raised in an unhealthy environment.  

Back before the advent of modern agricultural practices, all food was essentially "organic".  Unfortunately nowadays, regular food can be full of chemicals or genetically modified and not even labeled as toxic!  It's up to you as an informed consumer to choose the healthiest foods you can for your family.

In this post I will explain the what the certification actually means, some benefits of organic foods, and which produce items matter when it comes to paying more for organic varieties.
​

What does the "Organic" symbol mean?

​Over 25,000 farmers, ranchers and other businesses are certified organic by the USDA (see their website).  They pledge to:

• Preserve natural resources and biodiversity
• Support animal health and welfare
• Provide access to the outdoors so that animals can exercise their natural behaviors
• Only use approved materials
• Not use genetically modified ingredients
• Receive annual onsite inspections
• Separate organic food from non-organic food

Important Note:  Your local farms and orchards may be practicing clean, sustainable farming but may not have paid to receive the USDA organic certification. Their food may also be wonderfully pure and healthy!  

Get to know your local farmers and suppliers and choose the best you can for your family. Better yet, start a garden of your own, purchase organic or heirloom seeds, and enjoy the healthy fruits of your labor!

​The Benefits of Organic Foods:

1. Organic foods contain more vitamins, minerals, and anti­oxidants than non­organic foods. These nutrients fuel your body for an optimum workout and feed your brain for optimum performance.
2. Organic meat lessens your exposure to antibiotics, synthetic hormones, and drugs that are commonly found in feed­lot animals. Healthy protein helps build muscle.
3. Organic foods have been grown on land that has not been treated with harmful chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and synthetic fertilizers. Many pesticides are neurotoxins, which can cause damage to your brain. Eating organic foods can reduce your cancer risk and lesson the toxic burden on your body.
4. Organic foods are not genetically ­modified organisms. GMOs have been known to cause intestinal damage, allergies, liver or pancreatic problems, testicular cellular changes, tumors, and even death in experimental animals. (Read more about GMOs.)
5. Organic foods are nourishing for your childrens’ small and growing bodies. Kids are especially susceptible to the harmful effects from exposure to toxins and GMOs.
6. Organic farming is supportive to the environment. Buying organic reduces pesticides in our drinking water, is earth-­friendly, and supports wildlife habitats. You may also helping your community by supporting local farmers.

​

Pesticides are the problem!

Pesticides, which are sprayed on crops to kill unwanted insects, plants, molds, and rodents, are poison to humans. ​Pesticides are known to be toxic to the brain, reproductive system, and endocrine (hormone) system. Scientific ​evidence demonstrates associations between early life exposure to pesticides and pediatric cancers, decreased cognitive function, and behavioral problems. Pesticide exposure is also a key contributor to the cancer epidemic in the United States.

Here are three important information sources:

• Harvard School of Public Health: article about about pesticides in food and study done on the Human health implications of organic food and organic agriculture (read the complete study).
• American Academy of Pediatrics: study of Pesticide Exposure in Children
• Pesticide Action Network (North America): they challenge the proliferation of pesticides, defend basic rights to health and environmental quality, and work to ensure the transition to a just and viable food system.

In conventional food, there are pesticide residues that remain in the food even after it’s washed. Organic foods are produced virtually without pesticides. Be on the safe side and buy organic!

​What about Meats & Poultry?

When land animals are raised humanely, in natural habitats and eat a natural diet, the nutrient quality of the meat is far superior to meat sourced from conventional farming methods.

Two great sources of healthy meats & poultry by mail order are:

• US Wellness Meats
• Grass Fed Traditions

(Their prices are excellent!)

In my opinion, if meat or poultry is purchased at a regular grocery store, it's absolutely vital to buy products labeled either organic, grass fed, or free-range. If it isn't, the odds are very great that it's from an animal raised in small pens or a feed-lot and fed an unnatural, unhealthy diet. They may have been given hormones and antibiotics. Their feed may be genetically modified and is likely to have been sprayed with herbicides, pesticides, and synthetic fertilizers.  Poultry and pork are often raised on farms that can use extensive amounts of chemicals.  It is strongly encouraged to eat them only when they are certified organic.  

For more information on choosing the healthiest meats, see my:  
Guide to Choosing Meats and Seafood  & my article that explains 
Why Buying Organic Chicken Matters.
​

​Which Produce Foods are the Most Important to Buy Organic?

• In general, when it comes to produce, if you're going to remove the peel, don't bother buying it organic.  
• If it is a root vegetable, like carrots or potatoes, always buy organic (these will soak up toxins in the soil and cannot be washed off).
• Always buy organic apples and berries, which are the foods most sprayed with pesticides.

The Environmental Working Group (www.EWG.org) makes a list every year of “The Dirty Dozen”, which contains the produce most highly contaminated with pesticides. These can be exceptionally toxic to the nervous system.  The EWG’s list of “The Clean 15” outlines the least contaminated produce. Eating any fruits and vegetables is much better than not eating them at all.  Be sure to wash all produce thoroughly. 

EWG's 2017 Dirty Dozen™ list of produce includes: 

• strawberries
• spinach
• nectarines
• apples
• peaches
• pears 
• cherries
• grapes                            
• celery                            
• tomatoes    
• sweet bell peppers
• potatoes​

Each of these foods tested positive for a number of different pesticide residues and contained higher concentrations of pesticides than other produce.  Key Findings:

• More than 98 percent of samples of strawberries, spinach, peaches, nectarines, cherries and apples tested positive for residue of at least one pesticide.
• A single sample of strawberries showed 20 different pesticides.
• Spinach samples had, on average, twice as much pesticide residue by weight than any other crop.

EWG's Clean Fifteen™ for 2017 - the produce least likely to hold pesticide residues - are: 

• sweet corn
• avocados
• pineapples
• cabbage        
• onions          
• frozen sweet peas
• papayas
• asparagus
• mangoes  
• eggplant
• honeydew melon
• kiwis    
• cantaloupe
• cauliflower
• grapefruit

Relatively few pesticides were detected on these foods, and tests found low total concentrations of pesticides.

Notable findings about the Clean 15:

• Avocados and sweet corn were the cleanest: only 1 percent of samples showed any detectable pesticides.
• More than 80 percent of pineapples, papayas, asparagus, onions and cabbage had no pesticide residues.
• No single fruit sample from the Clean Fifteen tested positive for more than four types of pesticides.
• Multiple pesticide residues are extremely rare on Clean Fifteen vegetables. Only 5 percent of Clean Fifteen vegetable samples had two or more pesticides.

PRINT the list!

For even more information, see the article :  17 Essential Reasons to Eat Organic Food

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