The Top 5 Reasons to Go Organic
With all the tricky marketing littering the grocery aisles, even the purest desire to grab the healthiest product on the shelf can often be unknowingly swayed. To avoid this all together, we encourage you to shop outside the aisles for whole foods without the catch-phrases.
But even then, the scene can cause pause.
Do I endure the up-charge for the seemingly feebler organic apple versus his shinier, conventionally grown cousin-once-removed? Why is this conventional broccoli head so much prettier and greener? Are my eyes playing tricks on me or are these onions larger than my 18 month old’s head? Wait what…? Do I want locally grown or organic? Wild-caught fish? Grass-fed beef? Cage-free eggs or free-range eggs?
And on and on.
To help break it down, we’ve included a summary of organic vs. conventional, which meats, fish, eggs and produce you should buy organic, as well as a basic understanding of local vs. organic.
Organic vs. Conventional
Bad News First...
At the risk of sounding alarmist, the loose regulations on conventionally grown foods allow for antibiotics, pesticides and hormones to make their way into our food. To achieve the now-familiar USDA Organic seal, one must prove to avoid all pesticides, antibiotics, GMOs (genetically modified organisms) and growth hormones. They also must prove lower levels of environmental pollution and adherence to animal welfare requirements, inclusive of enabling cows to pasture for pasture season.
One study showed the removal of GMOs from a study group’s diet over an extended period of time revealed improvements in every single one of the following issues: digestive issues, fatigue, obesity, brain fog, mood/anxiety/depression, food allergies, food sensitivities, memory and concentration, joint pain, seasonal allergies and insomnia.
Further, close contact with pesticides has been linked to short-term, acute health issues such as stinging of eyes, skin irritation, rashes, blisters, blindness, dizziness and diarrhea. More alarmingly, long-term effects include various cancers, infertility, hormone and endocrine disruption. While these examples reveal direct contact with the pesticides, one must deduce repeated exposure through consumption does not agree with our bodies and our systems.
Lastly, Medical News Today reports “the use of antibiotics in animals may raise the risk of transmitting drug-resistant bacteria to humans.” According to an investigative report by The Atlantic, “...additional studies were conducted by other government agencies and non-governmental organizations during the 1990s, all of which generally supported FDA's concerns regarding the public health threat posed by antimicrobial resistance."
At R+R, we firmly believe in the importance of gut health in its relation to your overall well-being. With the Vagus Nerve running from your gut to your brain, the correlation cannot be denied. Countless studies have shown the havoc antibiotics wreak on our gut biome by ridding it of good bacteria to maintain the homeostasis necessary for your health. While we do believe there is a time and place for antibiotics, the overuse found in animals and by many general practitioners and pediatricians causes great concern.
The Good News…
Now that that’s out of the way, science has backed going organic as a huge boost to your overall health for many reasons.
The top 5 Reasons to Go Organic
You’re avoiding all the yucky side effects and risks associated with the GMOs, antibiotics, pesticides and growth hormones in the above detail
You’ll be consuming more nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables
You will lower your chemical exposure
You’ll consume higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids
You’re simultaneously supporting our environment
While conventionally grown food may appear bigger, shinier, prettier… there’s a reason for that. As with anything in life, looks can be deceiving! Hand over fist, we choose to stick to the more normal looking, more nutrient-dense organic food for the health of it.
Pro tip: Unless you see the USDA Organic seal, the marketing buzzwords all-natural, natural, green, etc. mean nothing. Also, no matter where you see the USDA seal, be it Wal-Mart or Whole Foods, the standards are the same.
Fruits + Veggies
While the antibiotics mentioned above typically only affect conventionally raised animals, pesticides and hormones most definitely affect our vegetation population. With this data in mind, we would encourage you to purchase everything organic, but we realize this isn’t feasible for most of us. Instead, we like to stick to the rule of thumb: If you’re eating the skin, buy organic. But even this can get dicey and vary from growing season to growing season, so we’ve sourced 2020’s Dirty Dozen Fruits + Vegetables from The Environmental Working Group (EWG). We strongly encourage you to buy organic when it comes to these twelve:
Apples
Celery
Cherries
Kale
Grapes
Nectarines
Peaches
Pears
Potatoes
Strawberries
Spinach
Tomatoes
The EWG also encourages buying organic when it comes to hot peppers (again, when in doubt, if you’re eating the skin… go organic).
Meat, Fish + Eggs
Beyond looking for the USDA Organic seal on all meat, chicken and pork products, we encourage you to buy grass-fed, organic whenever possible. When it comes to fish, buy wild-caught and avoid farm-raised for both nutritional and environmental reasons. For any canned or packaged fish such as tuna, look for brands like Safe Catch Elite who test each batch for mercury levels.
For eggs, buyer beware. The meaningless marketing buzzwords abound when it comes to these little guys. The best rule of thumb, on top of going organic, is to look for “pasture-raised” eggs. Passionate chicken farmers created this code word that is stringently regulated to allow for ample roaming green space for the chickens. This was created internally to outsmart those touting “cage-free, free-range and/or natural eggs”... which essentially don’t mean anything.
Local vs. Organic
It’s no secret that at R+R we #lovelocal. More often than not, the reason local produce is not dubbed USDA Organic is because the farm simply is not large enough to endure the financial load associated with the regulations to attain the seal of approval. They likely do adhere to the requirements and there’s something to be said about the incredibly limited change of hands when buying from a local farmer, but we recommend doing your research if you’re not sure!