What Foods Should I Buy Organic?
86Lovely Organic Veggies and Fruits
Organic vs. Non-Organic
What foods should you buy organic? It seems like the organic section of the grocery store is expanding, but are organics worth the price?
We have young children at home and I always error on the side of buying organic produce. We also get our veggies from an organic farm, see link below, so I rarely buy produce at the store. Once in a while I want an item not provided from our farm, the list below will help to decipher what to buy organically and not organically.
The today show recently came out with a list of the foods that you should buy organically, i.e., these foods are not as effected by pesticides, and a list of foods that it's not worth spending the extra money to buy organic. The group of foods that you should buy organically they call "The Dirty Dozen"; these foods still have pesticides even after they are washed.
Non-Organic Foods
These foods are safe to buy non-organic:
- Bananas
- Kiwi
- Mangoes
- Papaya
- Pineapple
- Asparagus
- Avocado
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Corn
- Onions
- Peas
The Dirty Dozen
Buy These Foods Organic:
- Apples
- Cherries
- Grapes
- Nectarines
- Peaches
- Pears
- Raspberries
- Strawberries
- Bell Peppers
- Celery
- Potatoes
- Spinach
Capay Organic Farm
A few more points...
- Organic foods many times go "off" faster than non-organic; so eat your organic veggies quickly. They also will have more bacteria after a week. This is because small, organic farmers are less efficient in getting their product to the market.
- Macrobiotically organic milk is no different than non-organic, it's just twice as expensive. I recently asked my daughter's doctor about organic foods and he recommended organic veggies but said that organic milk had no benefits. I do buy milk that does not treat their cows with rBST hormones. These are bovine growth hormones that are injected into lactating cows to produce more milk.
The Farm We Order Organics From
Try Out This Organic Farm
- Farm Fresh To You
If you live in the San Francisco area, you can have fresh, organic fruits and vegetables delivered to your door weekly. We have this service and love it!
Cecily's Hub on Organic Food From the Farm
- Food Fresh From the Farm
Check out Cecily's hub on why to buy organic veggies from your local farm.
Environmental Working Groups' Organic List
Here's a reliable sources review of what to buy organic. Of course, it would be optimal if we could buy everything organic, but with soaring produce and food prices this list can help you pick and choose the organic produce that you should buy.
- (worst: highest pesticide load) Peaches
- Apples
- Sweet Bell Peppers
- Celery
- Nectarines
- Strawberries
- Cherries
- Lettuce
- Grapes-imported
- Pears
- Spinach
- Potatoes
- Carrots
- Green Beans
- Hot Peppers
- Cucumbers
- Raspberries
- Plums
- Oranges
- Grapes-Domestic
- Cauliflower
- Tangerine
- Mushrooms
- Cantaloupe
- Lemon
- Honeydew Melon
- Grapefruit
- Winter Squash
- Tomatoes
- Sweet Potatoes
- Watermelon
- Blueberries
- Papaya
- Eggplant
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Bananas
- Kiwi
- Asparagus
- Sweet Peas-Frozen
- Mango
- Pineapples
- Sweet Corn-Frozen
- Avocado
- (best: lowest pesticide load) Onions
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Any thoughts?
Interesting, Cec. Thanks for the information!
I'VE READ THAT 89% OF CORN HAS BEEN SPRAYED OR GENETICALLY ENGINEERED. CORN SHOULD GO ON THE "BUY ORGANIC LIST". I REALLY THINK YOU SHOULD BUY EVERYTHING ORGANIC!
You are on the right track Robin in choosing organic, but please consider that most all non-organically grown foods...probably 90 % these days are irradiated, which can deplete 50 to 80 % of the nutrients, virtually equivalent to the canning process, plus a few more chemical changes. Organic foods, at least at present, are not being irradiated...Thank God.
Any type of root vegtable should be bought Organic because they incorporate the pesticides directly into the soil, and the soil is very contaminated from years and years of pesticide use. The pesticides just soak into the ground and literally "grow" into the plant. Therefore you don't have a plant that is just sprayed with the pesticides, it is within the plant. This is not avoidable once the soil is contaminated.
I seen the "Dirty Dozen" list on the Discovery Health channel. Very interesting. But what about oranges and grapefruits? I know organic is always better, but is it ok to buy non-organic?
renee - definitely buy organic oranges and lemons and grapefruit. non-organic oranges specifically are loaded not just with spray but with whatever chemical fertilizer are used in the soil.
Your wrong about the corn, have you ever heard of GMO crops, aka genetically modified foods, those are probably the most dangurous.
Corn is a tricky veg. GM Corn as far as a few miles away will cross pollinate with so-called organic corn. Due to no fault whatsoever of the organic/other responsible farmer, their crop can become GM as well.
Organic food is eco friendly ,it is useful in reducing global warming.Slowly people have started using organic food.
Hi I too have bought about 90% organic in the last few years but what about almonds and walnuts I love them as snacks and I still but them un organic is this a mistake?
Thank you for the info. We are planning on growing our own in the summer and are looking forward to it.
I'm with RGraf, grow your own. You can't beet this and it's so rewarding.
All comments so true. Especially those concerned with water pollution and GM Cross pollination. It is the farm hands and locals that suffer the most from pesticide use. And also the over use of local water resources that steal from the local people their born right to clean water. It's not just food we need to think about. It is cotton, Coffee, Tea these are 3 big users of fertilizer, pesticides and water. How were the hops and wheat treated for your afternoon Budweiser or the grapes of you so admired Californian wine, Or the beautiful beasts; Beef, Pork, Foul??? Think about what they put in yer food and what you put in you're belly as well as what that is cause and effect for those producing those items for our consumption...Are organics really to big of a price to pay? Should the government not support and subsidize organic and water reduction projects rather than wasting out money, Heritage, water and already perfect gifts from mother Earth. Grow yer own veggies, brew your own coffee from fair equity and equality traders and not the Nescafe's, Nestle's and Coca-Cola's of the world. Wake up and smell the Coffee. Have a raw greens shake in the morning and hemp heart pasta for lunch, give up meat the number one waister of water, forest and grazing lands, GMO soy beans and corn to fuel a nation; a world; mind warped by McD's and KFC...Eat and drink local!! Eat organic, wear organic and live as organic as possible. Tell Dupont, Shell, Mitsubishi, bla bla bla multinationals all around the world that this is not how we want to go down. Human rights come down to Organics. Love, Light and Understanding.
Dave
Corn is not a vegetable. It is a grain.
Hi, wonderful Hub!!
Thank you.
XCELLENT JOB,. THANKS FOR INFORMATION
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Here In America's Test Kitchen - Cook Book HCDJ 2002
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The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook by
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Cecily says:
3 years ago
I understand that the Environmental Working Group put this list together. While a respected environmental group, I think they make a grave error by including bananas on the "okay to buy non-organic" list. While they do have a thicker skin (peel) than most of the produce on the "buy organic" list, conventional bananas are often aerially sprayed with pesticides and fungicides, exposing both the fruit and the people that cultivate it, to incredibly harmful toxins. Also, in many places, the growers will wrap the growing fruit in a plastic bag lined with pesticides. When it's time for harvest, those pesticide-laden bags end up in water ways (sometimes the same water ways that are the source of drinking water for the workers and their families). Conventionally grown bananas are both environmentally destructive and unsafe for the workers who grow them. I would be surprised if the other items on the ok list don't share a similar story.