For a long time I was on the fence about organic produce. Sure, I liked the idea of buying it, especially if it was grown locally, but I just couldn’t get over the cost. As my diet started changing and I started thinking more about what I was putting into my body, organically grown foods started to make more and more sense. Pesticides, herbicides and fungicides aren’t only sprayed on the fruits or vegetables themselves, but also the whole plant (sometimes) and the soil.
From my college horticulture studies I knew that those chemicals were being absorbed by the plants and would be found in my produce, no matter how many times I scrubbed the fruits and veggies. Not only that, but these chemicals were also making it into groundwater, upsetting the delicate ecological balance within the soil, and often times causing great harm to the farm workers through exposure. Buying organic also insures I won’t be getting any genetically modified or irradiated produce. Not to mention it just tastes better! So, I adjusted my monthly grocery budget so that I could buy only organic produce. I figure the little extra money I spend on high quality food will be saved many times over in costs of health care down the road.
Organic produce is better for you in terms of nutrition, too. As Gabriel Cousens says in his book, Conscious Eating, “The nutritive value of organically grown foods is usually significantly superior to those foods grown commercially in the same local soil. One major study at Rutgers University found that organic produce had an average of 83% more nutrients in it.”
Note: While the US may have banned many pesticides and herbicides, other countries have not–and we import a lot of our food.
Here’s a list of the top 12 foods which have been tested and contain the most traces of pesticides. These should ALWAYS be organic. (List from Environmental Working Group www.ewg.org)
September 1st, 2009 at 9:55 pm
Thanks Kelly, even though I know some of these things it is great to be reminded of it! I get so exasperated at the poor quality produce in my area that I could scream! I have to drive 80 miles to find anything organic unless it comes from my garden. Next year my garden will be even bigger so I know what kind of quality food my family and I are getting…..