I wrestle with this one a little bit myself as I fork over 3x the money for organic chicken than I would for ‘regular’ chicken at the market. Paul hates it when I buy organic milk because it went off before the expiry date one time (and it costs almost double).
But I can’t help remembering what fruits and vegetables tasted like when I was a kid. How we didn’t HAVE tomatoes during the winter – that was a summer food not a factory food.
A few years ago when Paul and I were in Scotland for a visit, I could not get over the flavor of the eggs, the freshness of the salmon – everything was like I remembered when I was a kid. I had almost forgotten that an egg yolk is supposed to be a deep, deep yellow (almost orange) rather than the pail watery middle to our eggs at home.
Physiotherapist extraordinaire Brian Gastaldi was in Italy and Switzerland this past summer and he commented that there is no ‘organic food’ section in the grocery store – it is just how they farm. I liked that.
Here’s what Registered Dietician Lisa Cianfrini had to say about eating organic food when we sat down for a chat a while ago…
[kad_youtube url=”http://youtu.be/QUd8-0S3U5U” maxwidth=500 ]
So I do try to buy organic for certain foods, here are the ones that are commonly referred to as the ‘Dirty Dozen’…
Apples
Celery
Swee
t bell peppers
Peaches
Strawberries
Nectarines
Grapes
Spinach
Lettuce
Cucumbers
Blueberries
Potatoes
And here are the foods where you can probably save the extra – knows as the ‘Clean 15’
Onions
Sweet Corn
Pineapples
Avocado
Cabbage
Sweet peas
Asparagus
Mangoes
Eggplant
Kiwi
Cantaloupe
Sweet potatoes
Grapefruit
Watermelon
Mushrooms
So I hope that helps you navigate the market a little better. Notice there are no ‘organic Oreos’ on that list anywhere 🙂
Cheers,
M
