which things to buy organic

[gregariouspeach]

My husband and I have been trying to swap to eating organic. We have discovered though that we cannot afford to buy all our usual groceries organic (we spent $300 last week). We will have to continue buying some of our food non-organic

Comments

[tgoode1984]

My husband and I started eating organic about 2 years ago, and have slowly transitioned. We are in the US. From all the research I have done I would advise the following. Focus most on fruits, vegetables, and meats. I don't know much about Australia's industry, but in the US there are tons of growth hormones, pesticides, and fertilizers that are tainting the food supply. We use the farmers' markets and co-ops and have transitioned to almost 100% organic. We still eat non-organic when over at friends/families. And we started with fruits/veggies/meats. But now all of our breads, spices, cheeses, eggs, etc. are organic. i guess my one piece of advice is not to think "all or nothing". Go at your own pace. Even if you only change one product at a time (all organic meats), you are making a huge difference to your body and your environment. GOod luck!

[gregariouspeach]

Thank you! My husband was of the "all or nothing" mindset but I am sure he will feel better knowing others started out slowly.

[yesididit]

potatoes and corn (at least in the US) tend to be heavily sprayed with pesticides many times over each season.

[babyalligator]

hmm... i read that sweet corn is actually LOW in pesticides, because of the protective barrier the husk provides.

[yesididit]

perhaps i am thinking of field corn then. monsanto made the round-up resistant corn and now farmers can (and do) routinely and repeatedly dump large amounts of round up pesticide on them without fear of killing the plant as would happen to normal corn varieties.

[babyalligator]

it is true that roundup ready corn can withstand tons of toxic herbicide, but i do believe the majority of it ends up as ethanol and animal feed. all the more reason to buy organic meat and dairy!

[colourcandy]

You don't need to buy anything organic that has an outer shell you typically throw away. For example, a banana, avocado, melon, lemon, lime.. so on.

Chemicals do not touch the part you're eating.

[mycologynerd]

The chemicals still make it inside the fruit, just not as much.

[kondo85]

This. It's better to start focusing on fruits/veggies with a thinner/edible skin.

[gregariouspeach]

Okay, thank you. That's a good point!

[mycologynerd]

1. Apples
2. Bell Peppers
3. Carrots
4. Celery
5. Cherries
6. Grapes - Imported
7. Kale
8. Lettuce
9. Nectarines
10. Peaches
11. Pears
12. Strawberries

Are the ones you want to buy Organic the most

[cathubodva]

I'd think the "imported" grapes would vary depending on what country you're in.

[mycologynerd]

I don't know why it says imported. I wouldn't trust any conventional grapes imported or not.

[darkenedminds]

You'd be surprised. US-grown grapes have a much lighter pesticide load than non-US-grown grapes. A few buddies of mine at work and I did an informal experiment of what was worse and there was a huge difference even in our tests (and we're more of a cell bio/genetics based lab than one focused in chemistry)

[cathubodva]

What are your reasons for switching to organic? Health, environmental, or something else, or a combination?

[gregariouspeach]

We're just trying to cut down the amount of chemicals in our daily life, especially for our kids.

[c0lormeplaid]

just remember that many plants produce natural pesticides. Organic celery does indeed contain far less bad stuff than non-organic, but when farmers go organic on root vegetables (and things like celery, broccoli, etc...any plant that is easily infected by fungus). The plant naturally produces more toxins to combat the increased threat of predators. So, while it doesn't have man based poison on it, it still contains plant based poison in it

[mycologynerd]

Can you point me towards this information from a .edu source?

Do you know if using companion plants lessons the increase of toxins? I am currently organic farming and getting a degree in Ecological and Sustainable Agriculture(admittedly only a Sophomore) and I have never heard this. It makes sense though.