Why Should I Buy Organic?

Reusable shopping bags, cloth diapers, and organic living— Organic living? Tiffany Washko talks about how an organic lifestyle not only benefits you but the environment around you.

Why Buy Organic?

So what is all this hype about a completely organic lifestyle? Does it REALLY make that much of a difference? YES!!!

For anyone truly concerned about their health and the health of their loved ones, adopting an organic lifestyle is a huge step in the direction of excellent health and wellness. An organic lifestyle means eating organic foods, using organic cleaning methods and toiletries, and dressing your little one in organic bamboo baby clothing. You can adopt all of these practices or just a few but any advancement in this area is improvement.

Most people agree that they would like to buy organic food and adopt a more organic lifestyle. Yet, instead of prioritizing certified organic food, the majority of people stick with their habitual processed or conventional foods. These non organic foods are nutrition poor, contain toxic residues, taste inferior and are potentially harmful to the environment, you and your family. So why go organic – you can’t afford not to!

Why You Should Buy Organic

• Your produce will not adorn the chemical cocktail that conventionally grown produce does.
• Fresh organic produce contains on average 50% more vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other micro-nutrients than intensively farmed produce.
• Organic foods are not genetically modified (GM) and therefore better for you.
• Eating Organic meat means avoiding eating animal meat from animals that are fed a dangerous cocktail of anti-biotics, growth promoting drugs, anti-parasite drugs and many other medicines on a daily basis, whether they have an illness or not.
• Organic produce tastes so much better!
• Wearing organic clothing means you are NOT wearing chemicals on your body.
• Using organic cleaning materials is just as effective as using conventional cleaners but without harmful chemicals.

What to Foods to Buy Organic

According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG) these are the top foods you should be buying organic from your local farmer:

• Apples
• Strawberries
• Grapes
• Celery
• Peaches
• Spinach
• Sweet bell peppers
• Nectarines
• Cucumbers
• Potatoes
• Cherry tomatoes
• Hot peppers
• Kale/collard greens
• Summer squash

Buy Locally

Once you made the commitment to go organic why not also make the commitment to buy locally? Most produce in the U.S. is picked 4 to 7 days before being placed on supermarket shelves, and is shipped for an average of 1500 miles before being sold. And this is when taking into account only US grown products! What a wasteful food system! This process weakens our communities, destroys our environment, and concentrates wealth and power into a few hands only.

We can counteract these harmful effects and help keep our local farmers in business by buying locally grown food whenever possible. You’ll be strengthening your community by investing your food dollar close to home. You’ll also get exceptional taste and freshness since local food is fresher and tastes better than food shipped long distances from other states or countries. Try to make it as goal to eat organic foods and only ones that have traveled no more then a few miles or perhaps even a few yards to your dinner table.

Check out your local community farmer’s markets!
Image: Corey Templeton Flickr

You can find local farmer’s markets just about anywhere just search the Local Harvest database for one near you!

Helpful Videos

Check out these helpful videos on how to read a food label and what the USDA Organic labeling means. Also great tips on container gardening and making baby food too!