Organic. The word makes us feel bright, shiny and healthy, right? If you’re anything like us, it can also give you heart palpitations just thinking of all those pennies adding up to dollars and all those dollars….oh my! We are (reluctant) penny pinching people, so the thought of spending twice as much on a pound of organic strawberries as you would on the regular ole strawberries that got us this far makes us cringe. BUT, then there are those three little faces in the cart (or hiding under the bananas or hussling the guy at the bakery for one more cookie). As parents, we want nothing but the best for our family. So, there we stand in produce with two packages of strawberries and a battle raging in our heads! Have you been there?!
Here’s what we decided to do at our house. We knew we wouldn’t be able to switch over to a completely organic kitchen all at once. But we can start with one thing, and for us that thing is produce. Once we get the hang of that we’ll move on to meat, then eggs and dairy and so on until we feel like we’ve made the changes necessary for our family. We aren’t claiming to be health experts here. We just want to share our journey with you.
We have always heard that there are some fruits and vegetables that you don’t need to splurge on for the organic option. Those being anything that have a hard peel or rind like bananas, citrus, or melon. After a little bit of research we came up with two lists: The Dirty Dozen and The Clean Fifteen. The Dirty Dozen are those fruits and vegetables that generally require the most pesticides. The Clean Fifteen are those that require the least or are the easiest to get rid of.
The Dirty Dozen
Celery
Peaches
Strawberries
Apples
Blueberries
Nectarines
Bell Peppers
Spinach
Kale
Cherries
Potatoes
Grapes
The Clean Fifteen
Onion
Avocado
Corn
Pineapple
Mango
Asparagus
Sweet Peas
Kiwi
Cabbage
Eggplant
Papaya
Watermelon
Broccoli
Tomato
Sweet Potato
A little side note…we recognize that anything we buy organic is better for the earth and benefits the farmers who grow the beautiful food we eat. And to them, we say “thank you” for respecting what we’ve been given and for providing us with this option. Again, this is just what our family has decided to start out with. We welcome any and all suggestions and wisdom that you have for us.
Do you buy organic? If so, did you go cold turkey or switch over gradually like us? Do you know where to find the best deals on organic produce? If you don’t buy organic, why not? What are your main hold ups on buying organic food?
I love this! You guys are doing such a great thing here! Love this blog!
We started doing organic exactly the way you are about 5 years ago. It’s the best choice we could have made for our family. This country is spending, historically, less on food (percentage-wise) than any other time. It’s hard to make the plunge to spend more money, but when you think of the magnificent contribution you are making to your health, the environment, your community farmers, etc. it’s absolutely worth the sacrifice!
Emily -
Thanks so much for sharing your info. Where do you typically buy from in Des Moines? Places like Hy-Vee or local farmers?
Love this as well. We are the same as you- mostly. When I buy organic it is always mainly produce. However my philosophy is: If it’s produce we eat all. the. time. and it’s on the dirty dozen list, then I buy organic. We eat a ton of spinach, apples, blueberries, and carrots (which I think are also on the list but didn’t see them on yours)- so I always buy these organic. However things we don’t as often I generally don’t buy organic. I also tend to buy organic dairy products (for the most part) because we eat and drink a ton of dairy items and always buy organic chicken & eggs (esp after watching the documentary Food Inc). Beef and pork I don’t buy organic necessarily because we tend to purchase these at Fareway, which (on their website) say all their meat is from Iowa farmers. I love to buy local when I can
Soon, when we invest in a deep-freeze, we plan to purchase a 1/4 cow from a Kalona farmer and have it butchered to our liking. It’s actually a lot cheaper per pound, locally raised, and tastes far better! Also- near Iowa City we are blessed to have the Amish farms outside of Kalona which always have incredible organic dairy, meat, and produce- as well as baked goods. They sell all these at their grocery store and all of which are fair priced (not at all expensive).
Anyway- that was long- winded! Love reading your blog!
Abbie
Turns out we are the same on most things. You would like we were family or something crazy like that!
I have been a little slow to convert to organic. I do buy lots of organic fruits and vegetables, but am not consistent. In a small town, you somtimes get great produce, but sometimes it is pretty ratty. I buy organic when I can. I do buy my beef from a guy that raises it locally and I know him well. He takes it to our butcher for us and we have it cut the way we want. It IS SO MUCH CHEAPER AND BETTER and I know how it was raised. I get most of my pork from the same butcher or from Fareway.
We grow a lot of our own vegetables and can them to our specifications. We have several fruit trees planted and hope they produce in the next few years. We also have berries….lots of berries. The organic dairy is a little more troublesome for me. I need to read more about it. I have read reports both ways and they have left me indecisive.
I guess I am at the point of constantly trying….but not “there” yet.
We really want to start a garden some day and will be coming to you for some tips!
I buy lots of stuff from Costco because they often have organic produce and brown rice, quinoa, etc there. Also, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Wheatsfield in Ames. It’s a really nice healthfood store, similar (smaller) than Pioneer in Iowa City. We’re members because we believe in it and they have, by FAR the most beautiful organic and local (when possible) produce I’ve seen anywhere, including the Farmer’s Market! I go almost weekly. Then, I spend about 1/3 or more of our food budget at http://www.azurestandard.com. I have a drop point at my house where they bring the orders once a month. You have to meet a certain amount to be able to create a drop point. So, I have about 5-8 friends that order regularly and all meet at my house to get our orders. I love this place. That’s about it. I rarely go to a regular grocery store anymore. ALL our chicken, beef, fish, lamb, milk, eggs, etc. comes from local farmers. Well, actually the fish comes from Alaska…arranged and organized by a local. And, then in the summers we are part of a CSA where we get a huge box of fresh organic veggies every week. That’s our life. I’m passionate about it and love to share!
Love you guys!
Oh, and I also have a garden…but this is mostly for experimenting and learning as I am NOT an expert. I plant a lot of tomatoes and salsa ingredients mostly!
This is really helpful!
Glad we could help!
Organic foods are an awesome option and preferred by many parents. We asked our food experts what they thought about organic versus non-organic foods and found some interesting perspectives.
Our experts had two main takeaways:
1. The bottom line (even from the group that writes the “Dirty Dozen” report) is that it’s better to eat all fresh produce than to avoid it because one may not be able to afford the organic variety. Here’s our post: “Getting Down and Dirty with Pesticide Residues and the Dirty Dozen” – http://bit.ly/lFkY12
2. In terms of nutrition, there aren’t differences between the two. Here’s our post: “Organic versus Non-Organic Foods: Is There a Nutritional Difference?” – http://bit.ly/r8Zxlr
As they say… food for thought…