That does it, i'm going organic.

  • I hate to do it to my budget, it will mean a significant cut in how many vegetables I can allow myself to buy in week but I just read an article about all the fruits and vegetables that contain pesticide residue because they dont have thick skin. How appetizing.. Anyone else go organic because of this?
  • My husband and I saw a film last year called Food Inc. And it changed the way we grocery shop. If you want some real validation for buying organic, give it a watch!!

    It's certainly put a crimp in our food shopping, but I totally think it's worth it. Go rent Food Inc though and you'll really want to switch!!
  • Maybe try a google search on organic dirty dozen - there are lists of the fruits and veggies most worth buying organic, and also lists of those which are least contaminated and probably fine nonorganic.
  • I've always read that it's better to eat nonorganic than to eat organic if doing so means you're cutting back on fruits and vegetables as a result.

    I buy a few things organic, but only those that are as good a buy as the nonorganic. For example Sam's Club sells organic baby greens at a better price than I can buy nonorganic in the grocery store.

    I also buy local nonorganics at the farmers' market. I've talked with the vendors and many of them are small family farms that follow organic practices, but can't afford the certification process.
  • Check out the Shoppers Guide to Pesticides. I carry one in my purse. It's a really helpful resource for shopping healthy on a budget. I ate a lot more mangoes after getting this list
  • Just a little ancedote ... my Mom remarried about 15 years ago, to a lovely man who had a pool. Used to her gardens, Mom had planters of flowers and vegetables everywhere. One potted tomato sat right beside the pool, so ... she'd just scoop water out of the pool. It was the best hydrated plant in the yard But the fruits!?! Tasted like chlorine ... bad! A real eye-opener wrt how my food is grown.
  • The dirty dozen is what I read
  • I think I will print myself one of these lists and reconsider some of my vegetable and fruit purchases at the market next time. Yikes!
  • If you have the space, growing your own vegetables is always a good idea. I live out in the country, and we grow corn, beans, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, green onions, and potatoes. It is fairly inexpensive, and it is also allows you to know exactly what you are getting. Working in the garden can also be a good way to burn some calories!
  • Great thinking!
  • For several years in the 90s and early oughts I had a piece of property growing certified organic veggies and avocados. It was mostly avos, but over an acre was put to tomatoes, peppers and green onions. It was a lot of fun, but the bad news is organic farming includes pesticides, primarily rotenone and organic chrysanthemum based pyrethrums. Rotenone was banned in 05 and later accepted again. It was banned because it may cause Alzheimers and it's pretty toxic stuff, but organic crops get hit pretty hard with it. The pyrethrums are not much different than the synthetic pyrethrins used on standard crops. You can by a bottle at Home Depot and spray your white fly problems away believing the food is safe because it is an "organic" poison. To me poison is poison. The organic version certainly isn't as potent but that just leads to more spraying. If forced to pick between Mexican grapes hit very hard with pesticides, Southern California organic grapes hit with organic pesticides or Northern California grapes barely touched with synthetic pesticides, I'm eating the synthetic ones before the organic ones, and I will not buy grapes from Mexico - period.
  • Hubby and I shop the farmer's markets when they're available (late May through early November), and our favorite vendor picks their produce the morning of the market (most of the non-Hmong vendors pick the night before) and they don't wash or trim the produce (which I really like, because I get to see the condition of the plant).

    I always was suspicious of the two certified organic vendors, because one trims and washes the produce (so it's hard to tell how fresh it is, and they discard the edible tops of veggies like beets). The other organic vendor keeps the tops on the carrots, beets, turnips, kohlrabi.... but there's never even a speck of insect damage. This has always made me suspicious of pesticide use (our favorite vendor's crops aren't bug-eaten, but you do see signs of insect damage here and there - which reminds me of how I remember veggies growing in my parents' and grandparents' gardens).

    When I see "too perfect" plants, I suspect strong pesticide use (organic or not).

    Ironically there's a greater demand for the "perfect" looking produce, so our favorite vendor's produce is cheaper than that of the organic and non-organic vendors who use more pesticides. Better quality, better flavor, and a better price - yeah for that I don't mind if the bugs had a few bites before me (I consider the bugs my taste testers. I don't want them eating so much that I feel like I'm eating their leftovers, but as long as they've left more than enough for me, I don't mind the evidence here and there that they enjoyed it).
  • You're a smart lady Kaplods.

    Another thing that makes me laugh is all the reports of pesticide levels on non organic crops being much higher than on organic crops. They don't test for the organic chemicals. They test for organophosphates, like good old diazinon and malithion, and some other synthetics. It's silly. If the tested for rotenone then the organic crops would have way more insecticides on them. The big panic about the organophosphates was they harmed fish. Rotenone has been used for full blown fish kills for decades. That stuff will wipe out a pond in an afternoon, but sprayed on your veggies it's organic. Wash your food thoroughly everybody.

    The cleanest veggies in production right now are probably being grown hydroponically in greenhouses. Since organic nutrient solution is very expensive and produces inferior crops, they are not organic operations. But as far as pesticides go, being indoors they can get by with lacewings and lady beetles for most situations. That fruit is most likely to be spotless and 100% spray free.