Organic Foods

[AngieDoogles]

Thanks so much for the advice Gayle! I think I just needed someone to tell me I'm not being silly for spending the extra money. Life will be really nice when we have professional jobs and don't have to worry about budgeting quite so much. I am trying to figure out how to pay for grad school without taking any loans and unless I get a few of the scholarships I applied for, I don't know how that will happen. But I will keep buying organic if it's more healthy. I hate to think of all the chemicals and pesticides I've consumed over the years...

Thanks for the link! (I miss so much since I can only pop in every once in a while!) I have already been buying organic spinach and strawberries--and sometimes other vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots, and such--but the list was definitely helpful! Also, I've been buying hormone and antibiotic free meat and eggs (regular milk though because it's a huge difference in price). Do you think I should get the ones labeled "organic" or is hormone and antibiotic free and grain fed just as good?

[gja1000]

I think hormone and antibiotic free is good. Grain fed is good, but if there were pesticides used on the grains, then the meat will have some pesticides - but not as much as vegetables that had pesticides sprayed directly on them. However, you can wash off some or most pesticides on fruits/vegetables, if you use soap and water - but pesticides in meat from contaminated grains, you can't wash off. Many grain fed meat will note the grain as pesticide free, so look for it.

Unfortunately, we can't avoid all bad things, so even with trying, you will ingest some - but less is better, I think.

[judy]

Go for it Angie! I was just in the Woodstock health food store and watched a young Mom buying organic food for her twins, with the nanny at her side. Nice!

I do have a very skeptical point of view about organic/health foods. I see a lot of stuff there that, I think, is useless. People spend a fortune, and it upsets me to see them taken advantage of. JMO!

I am an advocate of growing your own - veggies, fruits, whatever you can. They are basically free and as organic as you want.

[Lindsey]

My doctor gave me this website to do some research on what fruits and vegetables are best to buy organic. This list ranks them on the amount of pesticides used. The ones near the bottom of the list are okay to buy just regular, but you should try to buy organic for the products listed at the top.
http://www.foodnews.org/fulllist.php
I found it very interesting!

[Lindsey]

Oops I just realized there were a bunch of lists in that other post!
The site it is linked from is http://www.ewg.org. There are a ton of articles about the safety of food, water, and even cosmetics under the Health/Toxics category

[gja1000]

Thanks Lindsay!

[judy]

Great list Lindsey. Now I have to look back at Gayle's list and see what to do.