Why Go Organic?

What to Buy
Why You Should Go Organic
It's easier than you think to avoid foods with harmful components that can disrupt your metabolism. Simply buy organic foods!

Organic foods — those grown without pesticides or other chemicals — are healthier for you and for the environment. Here are the top eight reasons to buy organic:
1. Organics can help keep you slim and prevent diabetes. More than 90 percent of the endocrine-disrupting pesticides that linger in the tissues of our bodies come from the foods we consume — especially animal products.
2. Organics help you avoid scary hormones. The FDA currently permits six kinds of steroid hormones to be used in cattle and sheep raising. Most cattle in U.S. feedlots that are not raised organically are fed or injected with steroid hormones.
3. Organics help you avoid pesticides and other chemicals. A study at the University of Washington found that the urine of children who ate mostly conventional (that is, pesticide-laden) diets had nine times the organophosphorus pesticide concentration found in the urine of kids who ate mostly organic diets.
4. Organics prevent antibiotic resistance. Massive use of antibiotics in the meat and dairy industries leads to widespread antibiotic resistance, which leaves us vulnerable to harmful, and potentially fatal, bacteria.
5. Organics taste better. Organic food is and will always be fresher than nonorganic food — without pesticides and chemical preservatives, organic produce has to be eaten faster or it will rot.
6. Organics boost the variety in your diet. When you eat organics, you’ll switch your fruits and veggies seasonally — asparagus in the spring, tomatoes all summer, kale and sweet potatoes in the fall — thus ensuring that you get more phytochemicals.
7. Organics are more nutritious. Without pesticides, organic fruits and vegetables have to fight off bugs with their own “immune systems,” which naturally raises their antioxidant levels.
8. Organics save the earth. Regular produce grown in the United States eats up fossil fuels as it travels an average of 1,500 miles before being sold. Organic farming uses 30 percent less fossil fuel while conserving water, reducing soil erosion, maintaining soil quality, and removing carbon dioxide from the air.
Organics may be more expensive than conventionally grown foods, but the health and safety benefits are too great to put a price on, not to mention the lighter environmental impact. Still, I know your pocketbook can't be endlessly stretched. Below is a list I’ve assembled, using research from the Environmental Working Group, to guide you in spending your organic dollars selectively but wisely.
ALWAYS BUY ORGANIC
Even after washing and other attempts to reduce pesticides, these foods will remain the most toxic. Spend your organic food budget here:
· Meat, dairy, and eggs
· Coffee
· Peaches and nectarines
· Apples
· Bell peppers
· Celery
· Berries
· Lettuce
· Grapes
· Foods you eat often
SOMETIMES BUY ORGANIC
I call this the “Hey, if you’ve got the cash, why not?” section. Better safe than sorry.
· Processed foods (I don't like processed foods in general, but some organic brands, like Amy's, are okay)
· Onions
· Avocados
· Pineapple
· Cabbage
· Broccoli
· Bananas
· Asparagus
· Corn
· Mangoes
DON’T BOTHER BUYING ORGANIC
Don’t be duped into wasting your organic budget on these foods.
· Seafood
· Water
· Foods you don’t eat that often