When to choose organic and when not to bother- save your pennies!
Okay, so I subscribe to Dr. Oz’s, www.realage.com, email list. Guilty as charged… I am trying to “Live Life to the Youngest”….
Often I only glimpse at the weekly email I get and occasionally something interesting catches my eye. In this case, it was an article about when to choose organic fruits and vegetables and when not to bother. The premise behind this is that certain foods are exposed to more agrochemicals such as pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers than others so these are the ones you go organic for. By shopping this way, you not only save lots of money, you also have the potential to reduce your family’s exposure to pesticides by up to 90%. The fruits and veggies to go organic for are as follows:
Fruits
- peaches
- nectarines
- strawberries
- cherries
- apples
- pears
- grapes
Vegetables
- spinach
- lettuce
- potatoes
- celery
- peppers
This is something I have followed myself for some time since I learned about all this when I was in the Agricultural Sciences program at UBC (I am an Agrologist). When shopping, I try to think about how produce might be exposed to chemicals. An example would be bananas. Often very expensive to go organic and while I am sure there are good reasons to buy organic, my logic is that bananas have a very thick peel so as long as I wash it well, I will not be exposed to much in the way of pesticides. Most pesticides used for produce are surface sprays as opposed to systemic so you should be pretty safe. I apply this logic to watermelon, oranges, and melons… you get the idea.
Another thing to note is that root vegetables are often good “organic” candidates because though you may think that the veggie is safely tucked away beneath the soil,veggies such as potatoes, are top-killed prior to harvesting by spraying with none other than my personal favourite, Round Up. I have first hand experience with potato farming since the farm where my horse lived for years had a large potato operation. We always kept the animals in the barn and kept ourselves off the property in the fall when the brown clouds of spray moved across the land prior to harvest time. Yum! My poor horse was left out once during this and was covered in hives and was in respiratory distress. Who’s hungry?!
Hot House products are another good way to go if you are okay with the sustainability issues of greenhouses (a whole other blog in itself). Hot House products are grown without pesticides since it is unsafe to spray in those confines. Greenhouses use integrated pest management such as beneficial insects, insect tape and start with a sterile environment. I often choose Hot House products as my cheap “organic” alternatives.
Food for thought.
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