I came across an opinion article today in the LA Times about organic produce. The author articulated that in these crazy economic times when people have less money and are trying to be more frugal with the funds they have, that buying conventional produce instead of organic produce is a good way to save money. He goes on to say that while there have been studies that found that those who ate conventional produce did in fact have pesticide residue byproducts in their urine, and these byproducts went away when the diet was switched to organic, there is no hard evidence that the presence of these pesticides actually did any harm to the subjects. He also mentions studies that have looked at the nutritional quality of organic versus conventional produce, and while some have shown organic produce to being higher nutritionally, others were inconclusive. (
see article here )
Ahhh, the good old saying, "Well studies have shown....". Of course we have to rely on scientific studies for our hard facts, and of course calling clinical studies important to our growth in knowledge is a vast understatement, but if you are like me, you are a bit jaded about "studies". What are you supposed to do? Keep doing something that you aren't sure is bad for you and just wait until a researcher yells "Wait a minute, that thing you've been eating for the past twenty years actually causes cancer!" (
Can we say BPA? ) I pay attention to scientific studies and the latest health news (this blog is obviously based off of them), but I try very hard to use common sense too.
So, here is what I think about organic food and saving money. I, like the author of this article and many others in the nutrition and health world will tell you any vegetable or fruit is better than no vegetable or fruit. If you can't afford to buy, or you don't have access to organic produce then keep on eating conventional and be proud that you are in the minority of people who actually consume something green (red or orange) each day. That being said organic food is getting a lot cheaper as the consumer demand gets higher. That is why big supermarket chains such as Albertson's and Safeway, along with many others are adding their own brand name lines of organic and affordable food. As I have mentioned many times, if you have a local organic farm CSA program, you can save a lot of money too by subscribing (
see CSA post here ).
If you are like me, even though no study has "proved" that pesticide residue causes harm, you'd rather not knowingly injest pesticides into your body. I'll admit that the majority of my small, student budget goes to healthy food, and that is ok with me. A key weapon against overspending money on organic food in a grocery store is to know which fruits and veggies are worth the extra cost, and which are not.
Here is a link to your bible of organic versus conventional produce. It is a list of the fruits and veggies with the highest pesticide load (top six in order: peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, and strawberries) meaning you should buy organic whenever possible, and the lowest pesticide load (top five in order: onions, avocado, sweet corn-frozen, pineapple and mango) where you can forgo the organic label.
In short, eat vegetables and fruit. If you are at all concerned about pesticide levels (and I think you should be) then make sure to look at your list and make wise choices in the produce section.
I came across an opinion article today in the LA Times about organic produce. The author articulated that in these crazy economic times when people have less money and are trying to be more frugal with the funds they have, that buying conventional produce instead of organic produce is a good way to save money. He goes on to say that while there have been studies that found that those who ate conventional produce did in fact have pesticide residue byproducts in their urine, and these byproducts went away when the diet was switched to organic, there is no hard evidence that the presence of these pesticides actually did any harm to the subjects. He also mentions studies that have looked at the nutritional quality of organic versus conventional produce, and while some have shown organic produce to being higher nutritionally, others were inconclusive. ( see article here )
Ahhh, the good old saying, "Well studies have shown....". Of course we have to rely on scientific studies for our hard facts, and of course calling clinical studies important to our growth in knowledge is a vast understatement, but if you are like me, you are a bit jaded about "studies". What are you supposed to do? Keep doing something that you aren't sure is bad for you and just wait until a researcher yells "Wait a minute, that thing you've been eating for the past twenty years actually causes cancer!" ( Can we say BPA? ) I pay attention to scientific studies and the latest health news (this blog is obviously based off of them), but I try very hard to use common sense too.
So, here is what I think about organic food and saving money. I, like the author of this article and many others in the nutrition and health world will tell you any vegetable or fruit is better than no vegetable or fruit. If you can't afford to buy, or you don't have access to organic produce then keep on eating conventional and be proud that you are in the minority of people who actually consume something green (red or orange) each day. That being said organic food is getting a lot cheaper as the consumer demand gets higher. That is why big supermarket chains such as Albertson's and Safeway, along with many others are adding their own brand name lines of organic and affordable food. As I have mentioned many times, if you have a local organic farm CSA program, you can save a lot of money too by subscribing ( see CSA post here ).
If you are like me, even though no study has "proved" that pesticide residue causes harm, you'd rather not knowingly injest pesticides into your body. I'll admit that the majority of my small, student budget goes to healthy food, and that is ok with me. A key weapon against overspending money on organic food in a grocery store is to know which fruits and veggies are worth the extra cost, and which are not. Here is a link to your bible of organic versus conventional produce. It is a list of the fruits and veggies with the highest pesticide load (top six in order: peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, and strawberries) meaning you should buy organic whenever possible, and the lowest pesticide load (top five in order: onions, avocado, sweet corn-frozen, pineapple and mango) where you can forgo the organic label.
In short, eat vegetables and fruit. If you are at all concerned about pesticide levels (and I think you should be) then make sure to look at your list and make wise choices in the produce section.