It’s overwhelming, isn’t it? Organic food is expensive and there are choices to make everyday. Maybe you know in your heart that choosing organic is best, but you just can’t see how to do it.
It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. And, really, it never is. All of us on this road of natural living are pushing along, changing one more thing and one more thing to make our world and our families healthier. So, if you need somewhere to start, consider this priority list from pediatrician Dr. Alan Greene, author of Raising Baby Green. His list answers the question, “What are the most important foods to buy organic?” considering more than just pesticides. So, in order of first priority, here goes:
- Milk
- Potatoes
- Peanut Butter
- Baby Food
- Ketchup
- Cotton
- Apples
- Beef
- Soy
- Corn
Dr. Greene gives a thorough, well-written account of how he created this list, and what is gained by choosing organic for each product. For more details read through Dr. Green’s Organic Rx. I can’t say I agree with his reasoning on potatoes. He mentions that kids eat more potatoes than any other vegetable – but in French fries. Given that fact, I don’t see how buying organic potatoes for the home is going to translate, unless you’ll be making fries at home…
Also, I can’t recommend eating any conventional soy products, organic or not. From what I’ve read, only traditional fermented soy products are actually healthy. But that’s another story.
I noticed that Dr. Green listed cotton as product number 6. For those of you as confused as I was, he’s talking about products that contain cottonseed oil or an unidentified vegetable oil (like salad dressing, peanut butter, etc). Sure, it would also be great (and hugely beneficial to the health of our world) to buy all of our cotton fabrics, organic too. But, unfortunately, that’s probably the most expensive realm of organic living.
This list helped me to realize that the peanut butter we buy is not organic. Oops. Time to change that.
Related posts:
- Local vs. Organic Produce – What to Buy?
- Organic: A Choice for our Children
- How to Eat Organic and Not Go Broke
- Mercury in High Fructose Corn Syrup
- For Information Junkies on My Cosmetic Purge
Tags: organic
Rachel,
I agree with you about soy!
This is based on how much the average American consumes, right? In our family, for example (during the summer), we consume *much more* strawberries and peaches than corn. So those would come before corn on the list *for us,* right? I think peaches come right after apples on the EWG “produce to buy organic” list. I just want to make sure I understand the way the list was produced.
We do eat a lot of potatoes, so thank you for the reminder about that!
Bethany
Bethany, Yes this list is based on stats for average American consumption. One might reorder it based on individual consumption. With corn the tricky thing is that it’s in many prepared foods like cereal.