Now that you are eating more fresh produce, should you only eat 100% organic?
Yes, but you don’t have to be perfect about it.
Organic produce is best; it protects our planet, our bodies, and our future generations. However it’s not possible for all of us to eat 100% organic foods just yet. Organic is not always available in certain areas, nor is it always affordable. There are certain parts of North America that make even the simplest of veggies seem like golden eggs.
As you eat more fresh produce, your taste buds will change and you will most likely develop a preference for which vegetables taste best to you as organic. For the remaining portion of your diet that is not organic; look for ways to grow these yourself, buy from a local farmer, or buy the conventionally grown produce in peak season and limited quantities.
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Aside from the way that our produce is grown, an issue that is also immediately important – how much mold is on the surface of the produce you’re eating? This mold becomes more visible the longer the produce is kept in storage. When you closely observe the conventional and organic versions of one type of produce, for example potatoes, you can see and smell a difference between the two. Typically it is the conventionally grown produce that has more visible mold on the surface, and it is a food that should not be eaten.
This is a short list of foods that are always best eaten organic because there is less mold living on the surface of the produce:
- Potato
- Onion
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Grains
- Banana
- Berries
- Apple
- Dried Fruit
Any food that you can afford to add to that list, by all means do. But if only buying organic is keeping you from beginning a plant-based diet lifestyle, it’s not absolutely necessary, and there are ways to eat healthfully without it being perfect.
If buying conventionally grown produce, buy the fruits that are most abundant on the grocers shelf because those are in peak season. Also, buying those that have a somewhat continuous season like greens have a less “chemically tainted” taste because they can’t sit in storage indefinitely. Skip bagged and preprepared produce, they have extra additives that are meant to increase their shelf-life.
If you would like to eat more organic produce, there are a few tricks to making it more affordable for you. In the summer time, look for farmer markets in your area. When their produce is in peak season, this is a great opportunity to save them from tossing food and save you some money as well. Follow the sales in your grocery store, if a certain fruit or vegetable is on discount for the week then eat that as the main of your diet. Perhaps English cucumbers are on sale, load up on them, there are many different ways to prepare this vegetable in salads. Sometimes buying organic produce in bulk is a better option.
If you are wondering how to use vegetables and fruit to “clean up your body” this is a simple approach to doing that.
Happy Eating,
Jessie
Sources for this Post
- http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/health/natural-health/pesticides/index.htm
- http://draxe.com/how-to-buy-organic/