Taste It Tuesday: How Safe is Your Produce?

Have food companies roped you into believing everything you put in your body needs to be "Organic"? Labeling of our food can be very confusing. Terms like "All Natural", "Organic", "Natural Flavoring", and "Certified Organic" are thrown around all willy-nilly, its hard to differentiate what we should buy vs fattening these companies pockets.

I'm guilty of being a sucker to clever marketing. I once bought a brand of "Natural Whole Grain" bread thinking I was giving my family a good source of fiber and carbohydrates, only to read the back label to see that High Fructose Corn Syrup was the second ingredient. I don't know about you, but I don't think I want buckets of genetically modified corn sugar being dumped into my family's bread.

So how do you know which food should be organic and which are safe when traditionally grown? Well that's a trick question. The simple answer is NONE of our food should have added chemicals, whether it is being grown on a farm in the Mid-West or in our own backyard.

I know that this idealistic approach to food is not economically or geographically feasible for many people. Even if you are lucky enough to live near a grocery store that has USDA Certified Organic produce stocked on its shelves, the price of these items can border on extortion. (I just paid $5 for a container Organic strawberries).

Though the price of purchasing Organic food can deter many people from even considering it, just know that health benefits can far out weigh the dent in your wallet. Because organic farmers don't get subsidies from the government, and have a more labor intensive process to grow their food, their prices reflect the true cost of their work.

O.K. Getting back to which food to buy organically. This question can actually be answered by finding out which foods have the highest amount of pesticide and herbicide contamination. Each year the Environmental Working Group releases a list of the most contaminated foods, aptly titled the "Dirty Dozen".

  By switching to the USDA Organic varieties of these food you can greatly reduce your chemical intake by as much as 80% and avoid spending extra cash on food that doesn't necessarily need to be organic. 
If buying organic food is completely out of your budget try this simple natural food wash to help kill bacteria and dissolve wax or pesticides that remain on your foods.
Natural Veggie Wash   Ingrediants: A spray bottle with equal parts vinegar and water, 2 tablespoons salt.
Directions: For thick skins (apples) spray directly on item, rub in, then rinse with water. For soft skins (peaches) place in a bowl to soak for 2 minutes, then rinse with water.   If you want to indulge in some produce that isn't covered in toxic chemicals also check out the "Clean 15" in this handy little print out.  

 
What kinds of organic food do you buy? Let me know in the comments section below!
Fresh and Clean in Granolaville, 

Resources:
http://www.whatsonmyfood.org/food.jsp?food=NE http://www.thedailygreen.com/ http://www.ewg.org/

Posted in: chemical-free,clean 15,dirty dozen,fruits,organic,pesticides,taste it Tuesday,vegetables