American Chronicle, Sandy Powers
Published July 10, 2008
Grocery prices are rising. Every time you take a trip to the grocery store, you pay more for less. You have to economize but at what cost? You don´t want to compromise healthy eating. You want to buy the very best food for your family. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has mandated that no organic food can contain added hormones, antibiotics, synthetic pesticides, irradiated components, genetically modified organisms, or reprocessed sewage. Traditionally grown food has no such mandate. Most of the food sold in grocery stores is traditionally grown food that is grown or produced with toxic pesticides, toxic fertilizers, herbicides, added hormones and antibiotics. Study after study has shown residues of these additives are harmful to health, especially children´s health. Malignancies in children linked to pesticides include leukemia, non-Hodgkin´s lymphoma, and cancers of the brain. Because of the added expense incurred by growing organic food the natural way without harmful additives, organic food usually costs more than traditionally grown food. How can you afford to buy organic food with all its benefits when you´re on a limited budget? The answer is strategic shopping.
Strategic shopping is knowing when to buy organic and when to buy traditional. There are traditionally grown fruits and vegetables that absorb only traces of toxic additives, not enough to be harmful. I call them "safer" foods. The "safer" fruits and vegetables are onions, avocado, sweet corn, pineapples, sweet peas, bananas, cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, eggplant, blueberries, and watermelon.
Tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and cauliflower are on my list of "ok safe." "Ok safe" is not really "safer" food, but not really harmful, either.
The fruits and vegetables that should be organic are "the dirty dozen" as labeled by the Environmental Working Group, which is composed of doctors, engineers, and scientists.
"The dirty dozen" are peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, lettuce, imported grapes, pears, spinach, and potatoes. Whenever possible buy organic for these foods.
To better afford organics put strategic shopping to work. Buy store brand organics. Stock up during sales. For sweet bell peppers, buy in quantity when on sale. Wash, core, and freeze for later use. Change the way you buy. Purchase the large container of organic apple juice instead of traditional apple juice boxes. It´s not only healthier but it´s cheaper than the boxes. Bagged lettuce is the choice of shoppers today. Buy one regular bag and one organic bag and mix them. You will eliminate half of the pesticides in a serving. Frequent your local farm markets. Local farmers use less pesticides and fertilizers than large agricultural concerns. Just make sure the produce at the farm market is local. I´ve been at farm markets where some of the produce is from Mexico, Honduras, or wherever. That´s not a local farm market.
These are only a few of the steps you can take to protect the health of your family during a time of spiraling food costs. Become creative. Become a strategic shopper for health.
