Organic Vs. Your Bank Account

Wish you could shop ORGANIC but don't want to spend the extra money each week at the grocery store?

We keep hearing how great it is to go organic... but the news stories never seem to mention how much more MONEY this equates to.

Well here is some GOOD NEWS. The U.S. Department of Agriculture along with the Federal Food and Drug Administration conducted an 8 year study which analyzed the pesticides in the 50 most consumed fruits and vegetables. The produce was then ranked from MOST CONTAMINATED to LEAST CONTAMINATED... called The Shopper's Guide to Pesticides.

The Shopper's Guide to Pesticides serves as a GREAT GUIDELINE as to which fruits and vegetables are worth the extra $$$ to buy ORGANIC and which aren't.

But first, what exactly does it mean to be organic? To be classified as ORGANIC a food must be made in a way that complies with the national government standards. In the United States organic foods must be free of artificial food additives and free of artificial processing such as chemical ripening, food irradiation, and genetic modification. Organic foods can only be grown with natural, non synthetic pesticides.

(Chemical Crop)

Farmers hiding behind gas masks kind of makes you question the safety of our crops right? Recent human and animal studies have revealed that chemicals used on our crops have been linked to de-masculinization, Parkinson's Disease, nervous system degeneration, skin irritation, eye disease, miscarriages and lower cognitive scores. WOW, NO THANKS!

So now for the list...

"The Dirty Dozen": The 12 MOST contaminated foods. These are the ones that are worth the extra money (typically 10-40% more expensive) to buy organic!

• Peaches
• Nectarines
• Cherries
• Apples
• Domestic Blueberries
• Strawberries
• Imported Grapes
• Celery
• Sweet bell peppers
• Spinach
• Kale/ Collard Greens
• Potatoes

(Courtesy of Soda Head)

"The Clean Fifteen": The 15 LEAST contaminated foods. If you're looking to save some money don't worry about buying these items organic.

• Onions
• Sweet corn
• Sweet peas
• Asparagus
• Cabbage
• Eggplant
• Sweet potatoes
• Avocados
• Pineapples
• Mangoes
• Kiwi
• Domestic cantaloupe
• Watermelon
• Grapefruit
• Honeydew

Check out how each of the 50 fruits and vegetables scored in the study: Shopper's Guide to Pesticides

Hope this helps guide your next trip to the grocery store!


References:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_food
• http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/health/human.htm
• http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/effects-of-pesticides.html
• http://www.foodnews.org/methodology.php