Photo by karimian
If you’re like me and you try to buy organic produce whenever possible, you may feel a little frustrated by the extra cost involved in making such an effort to be a healthier, more conscientious consumer. Hello, should one really have to work overtime to afford good produce? So here’s the nitty gritty on organic produce: some of it is WELL worth the extra cost. BUT, some produce carries such a low pesticide risk it is really not necessary to buy organic (although PCC and Whole Paycheck, I mean, Whole Foods, may try to convince you otherwise with their beautiful produce displays.) Also, remember, especially at this time of year – it’s always better to BUY LOCAL! Here in Seattle, we are super lucky to have so many local farmer’s markets to choose from. Take full advantage of them! Find out when and where your local farmers markets are so you can get the best deals on fresh, local, organic produce.
Why should you spend the extra money on organics produce? A few reasons. . . .
1. Pesticides = SCARY! Pesticides are full of creepy chemicals, many of which are known carcinogens. You have probably heard that when you read food labels, you shouldn’t buy foods with ingredients you can’t pronounce or don’t recognize. Trust me, you won’t recognize the ingredients in pesticides. Pesticides can increase you and your kids chance of getting multiple cancers, awesome.
2. In addition to contaminating our food, pesticides contaminate our ecosystems. They are sprayed over the food, seep into the dirt and enter our water system. We drink pesticides in our water, yummy.
3. Pesticides can interfere with endocrine and metabolic function. When you put a bunch of foreign chemicals in your body, your body doesn’t recognize them or know how to process them. So your body gets confused and things don’t work the way they are intended. Could your sluggish metabolism be because your body is bogged down with gunky, junky chemicals it doesn’t know what to do with? Could this be impacting your thyroid function? BTW, a thyroid that doesn’t function properly will surely impact your ability to gain/lose weight. Pesticides can increase you and your kids chances of diabetes and thyroid dysfunction, really nice.
4. Take a stand – your kids deserve a better world. Take a stand against the ridiculous lack of concern and lack of regulation we have over our food supply. It is truly disturbing what the USDA and FDA are allowed to feed up. The government has done nothing little to nothing to protect you from exposure to these disease causing agents. Thank you government.
So, I completely understand that the cost of organics is a lot to bite off. So print out the list below and always buy your Dirty Dozen in the organic section of your store. Always. You deserve it. Your kids deserve it. Buy one less box of cookies, for Pete’s sake, in order to afford some organic apples. If you can’t afford to buy all organic produce, buy the Clean 15 non-organic items.
Here’s your guide to the Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15. PS – you can download this list as an iPhone app at: http://www.foodnews.org/.)
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DIRTY DOZEN (in order of highest pesticide levels):
1. Peaches
2. Apples
3. Bell Peppers (a nurse practitioner friend told me pesticide levels are so high on peppers that if you can’t get them organic, you shouldn’t buy them at all!)
4. Celery
5. Nectarine
6. Strawberries
7. Cherries
8. Kale
9. Lettuce
10. Grapes (Imported)
11. Carrots
12. Pears
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CLEAN 15 (these are low in pesticide levels, you can save your money for cute shoes instead):
1. Onions
2. Avocado
3. Sweet Corn
4. Pineapple
5. Mango
6. Asparagus
7. Sweet Peas
8. Kiwi
9. Cabbage
10. Eggplant
11. Papaya
12. Watermelon
13. Broccoli
14. Tomato
15. Sweet Potato
Next up, I’ll tell you all about organic meat and dairy. Sorry to break it to you, but it’s even scary than pesticide laden produce…. Stay tuned friends.
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