What do you buy organic?

[trghig]

Hi everyone

Its just been in the last few months that I've started learning more about food and natural eating and I've been making some changes to our diet. I've started cooking things like muffins from scratch, I've removed almost all HFCS products from our house. I've gotten rid of anything with MSG in it. (Though, I am not actual sure what it is just that its bad for you.) I've switched from fake butter to real butter. Now, I am to the veggies and stuff. On our current food budget I can't afford to purchase all organic. I also don't have the privilege to have my own garden. So, what are some veggies that you personal recommend going organic on and what can slide as conventional ones that just need a good wash?

Thanks!

[raksmama]

if you can't buy everything organic I would start with buying the foods that are most heavily sprayed with insecticide like strawberries, blueberries, spinach, green beans, white potatoes, bell peppers.

There is a list of the 12 most sprayed foods known as the dirty dozen.
Anyone have it?

There are other foods like broccoli, bananas, lemons, avocados, sweet potatoes that are not as heavily sprayed and you don't have to buy them organic.

[karika]

Hi! I will start by sharing this link about other hidden names for MSG.

http://www.msgmyth.com/hidename.htm

I avoid it by not buying anything processed (hamburger helper, salad dressing, frozen dinners or pizzas, little debbie cakes, etc). I really am not sure about the health reasons to avoid it either funny enough... I just know it gives me a migraine if I eat any of it, so I have avoided it (mostly) for many years. You can buy stuff in boxes that do not have it, you just have to read every label intently, everytime, because sometimes the ingredients change overnight. I wanted to say too that in addition to what you have listed, be sure you are not eating anything with partially hydrogenated oils either. And I would say no GMO either... but that is really only possible if you eat mostly raw, buy organic (or labeled no GMO) and or make everything from scratch (or do without things like bread and mayo).

I used to just buy everything organic and did for years. Then I made some bad business decisions and went bankrupt. I now shop with food stamps. So I have to get some things grown conventionally too.

Things I buy organic: spinach (or any green leafy veggies), zucchini, eggs, strawberries, cherries, apples, blueberries, grapes, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, carrots, peaches (or any small fruit with large pit like it... nectarine, plum, etc)


Things I will buy conventional: broccoli, asparagus, artichoke, melon, oranges, bananas, avocadoes, mushrooms

well here is a list... http://greenopolis.com/myopolis/blog...nt-buy-organic

guess I need to take some notes..., oranges are probably best bought organic it says...

The way I try to save a bit of money is to buy the cherries, blueberries, and peaches, as frozen organic (check to make sure they are not a product of China, there was a lot recently about that and the country's lack of organic regulation). We use them in smoothies a lot. The girls also like the bb and cherries just plain as a frozen snack. I will get peas frozen too. We like them just thawed and raw.

I am transitioning into vegan myself (so far I cut out mammal products), so the milk is out, but if you still consume dairy, try to find a local farm to get raw grass fed from. And of course the meat you eat if you do should be raised ethically, and not fed GMO grains. Here are some links to help you find some local suppliers and places.

http://www.eatwild.com/

These are for fruits and veggies and more...

http://www.localharvest.org/

http://www.pickyourown.org/index.htm

Soy has also been compromised by genetic engineering. I strongly recommend avoiding it also (not to overwhelm you, just had to say) It is in everything. Soy is vitamin E, it is alpha tocopherol and soy lecithin.... It can be avoided again by eating (or cooking) from scratch. I mostly eat fruits, veggies, beans, eggs, some chicken, nuts, seeds, dried fruits like raisins and dates, homemade pancakes (made with homemade almond milk), crepes, tortillas, muffins, popcorn popped from organic kernel (though I am not very keen on corn couldn't give up all the things at once it was too much), blue corn chips, sprouts....

One more neat link
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/hom...outgarden.html

in case you are living somewhere where this is possible. I would love to grow bananas and oranges in this climate, but we do not have any space at all according to the owner of the home.

[trghig]

Wow! That is a lot of info but thank you so much. I am going to spend the evening going through it once the kids go to bed since DH is working tonight.

[mamadelbosque]

I live in the boonies and our local grocery store has an extremely limited organic selection, so, mostly I buy conventional. I try to buy corn/soy organic whenever I possibly can, though thats to mostly avoid gmo's. I also mostly try to buy organic apples, and anything else that you eat the skin (peaches, potatoes, grapes, cherries, lettuice/spinach/broccoli, etc), but don't worry so much about the stuff that you peel first (citrus).

I also try to buy grassfed/organic dairy/meats and do pretty good - we have a herdshare for milk/butter/eggs, buy chicken locally, and hunt for deer meat... we also raise meat goats, though we still occasionally buy steaks . Cheese & yogurt though, I tend to buy conventional - cheese cause' organic is a: hard to find and b: out-of-this-world expensive, and yogurt cause', quite frankly, I don't like the organic brands, especially the 'cream on top' stuff.

Good luck!!

[zinemama]

We started years ago with the "dirty dozen."

When we had kids we switched to organic milk.

Now that we live in a region where organic produce is abundant and available in farmer's markets and most groceries near us, we try to buy as much as we can. Fortunately, we can afford to do this. There are still items (like citrus and avocado) that I tend not to get organic because conventional is just fine.

ETA: Dirty Dozen:

celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, domestic blueberries, nectarines, sweet bell peppers, spinach, cherries, potatoes, imported grapes, lettuce, kale, and collard greens

[laurabfig]

Always organic: apples, peaches, strawberries, and lettuces.
Everything else I will buy organic if the price difference isn't too much- we're on a budget and have to make choices to save $ sometimes.
But we're also in CA where organic and conventional often cost almost the same.