Is Organic Food Worth the Price? 

Is organic food worth the price?

Organic labeling indicates that the food or product has met the USDA organic standards. These methods integrate biological and mechanical practices that promote cycling of resources, promote ecological balance and conserve biodiversity.

Organic foods are lower on toxic synthetic pesticide residue and follow other safety standards.

So the real question is should you be spending your hard earned money on higher organic prices?

Let’s start off with some follow up questions to help get you there.

Is it in your budget? 

First up, let’s make this abundantly clear: Eating a wide variety of whole foods will always be beneficial, regardless if its organic or not.

If it’s not in your budget currently, don’t over stress about it nor let it deter from eating fruits, vegetables, meats, eggs, whole grains etc…

What do the studies say about organic? 

Reviews of multiple studies show that organic varieties do provide significantly greater levels of vitamin C, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus than non-organic varieties of the same foods. While being higher in these nutrients, they are also significantly lower in nitrates and pesticide residues. ( PMID: 20359265 )

What’s a good place to start?

Try shopping EWG’s list of clean 15 (less need to buy organic) and dirty dozen (more need to buy organic). This way you can save your money for the more important categories and buy conventional on less important categories.

Dirty Dozen List: 

Of the 46 items included in our analysis, these 12 fruits and vegetables were most contaminated with pesticides.

1. Strawberries 2. Spinach 3. Kale, collard & mustard greens 4. Peaches 5. Pears 6. Nectarines 7. Apples 8. Grapes 9. Bell & hot Peppers 10. Cherries 11. Blueberries 12. Green Beans

Try saving your money in these categories

Clean 15 List:

32. Carrots 33. Watermelon 34. Sweet Potatoes 35. Mangoes 36. Mushrooms 37. Cabbage 38. Kiwi 39. Honeydew melon 40. Asparagus 41. Sweet peas (frozen) 42. Papaya* 43. Onions 44. Pineapple 45. Sweet corn* 46. Avocados

* A small amount of sweet corn, papaya and summer squash sold in the United States is produced from genetically modified seeds. Buy organic varieties of these crops if you want to avoid genetically modified produce.

I hope you find this helpful and at the end of the day it’s important that you determine what is right for you and your family!

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