While looking for organic strawberries in the produce department, I overheard a lady say to her husband, “What is the point of buying organic carrots if we cannot afford to buy everything organic”?
Her tone was one of defeat. Her budget was no match for the higher cost of what many families see as a luxury: organic eating.
To this my response is that while the ideal is to purchase all organic food including meats and poultry, every little bit of clean, pesticide-free food contributes to the foundation of greater health for you and your family. An important thing to know is that half of our lifetime exposure to pesticides occur in the first five years of life. Pound for pound, children consume four to five times more fruits, veggies and milk than adults.
What to do; prioritize the most important organic foods to purchase.
The Environmental Working Group reports that of the forty-three different vegetable and fruit categories tested, these had the highest percentage of pesticide, making organic fruits and vegetables most important purchases. Though not included in their list, I always include milk and yogurt due to the amount that children consume in proportion to other foods.
The “Dirty Dozen” are peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, lettuce, grapes (imported), pears, spinach and potatoes.
But enough of these disturbing facts, I would like to leave you with a good reason to lighten your spirit and that is by simply avoiding the fruits and vegetables in the non organic-“dirty dozen”, you may reduce your family’s pesticide exposure by up to 90% and that is great news!
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