When and How to Choose Organic on a Budget
I am often asked which items I buy organic and which I do not. While everyone makes
their decisions differently, here's what I do for my household. They are in order
of importance.
Fats- Animal fats are critical to purchase organic, pastured and grass-fed, as fats
are where toxins are stored. Animals that are raised without chemicals and in their
natural diet will have the lowest levels of toxins. For vegetable based fats, like
olive and coconut oil, the priority of having organic is much lower.
Meat, Organ Meat and Eggs- Due to antibiotic usage, hormones, and the ethical stewardship
of animals, I only consume organic and 100% pastured (biologically appropriate food
and environment) meats from a farmer I can verify and personally speak to. I avoid
buying factory farmed, organic meat unless that is all that is available to me. If
you find a local farmer, often this meat will be the same price or even less than
the organic meat at the local health food store. That is certainly my case, as the
prices I pay for the pastured and organic meat is the same or less (and sometimes
much less) that what I pay for organic but not pastured at the local HFS. Some times,
it will be much less if you buy a large quantity at one time. I do not purchase conventional
meat if I can help it, with the exception of foods that we very rarely consume that
are expensive.
A word about liver- liver doesn't not actually store toxins, it processes them. So
livers from pastured animals do not pose a toxin threat as many people assume.
Dairy- When I was able to consume dairy, I only consumed organic, raw, and pastured
dairy for the same reasons listed above with the meat. I do not purchase pasturized
dairy in any form for any reason, as its consumption leads to repeated sickness and
sinus problems in my family, aside from the allergy issues I experience.
Veggies and Fruits- Food News did a good study on pesticide usage rates and levels.
I use their findings to decide for my family which produce I will only buy organic,
which I will buy conventional, and which I will decide based off of price. Personally,
based on their ranking, I will only buy the top 19 items organic and numbers 32-43
as conventional. I had been buying organic asparagus and yellow onions at a double
price over conventional when I saw this article, so I'm glad that I found it. I decide
on numbers 20-31 based off of price breaks and sales, and how often we consume the
item. For example, we typically only consume grapefruit once or twice a year, if
that, so I don't buy organic unless the price is almost the same as conventional.
We consume cantelopues regularly throughout the summer, so I buy it conventional
if the price drops to $1-1.50 each. We consume conventional sweet potatoes when the
price drops to less than 33 cents a pound. The only exceptions I make to this are
items that we rarely consume where organic price is over double conventional.
Grains- Due to the volume of rice we consume, we only purchase organic and non-GMO
(rice is our staple grain now that we have gone gluten-free). The majority of the
rice I consume is in the form of baked goods made with rice flour. For other grains,
we decide based off of how often we consume them. For corn, I don't necessarily buy
organic (see produce above), but I do buy non-GMO. We consume corn two or more days
a week. I haven't been able to locate non-organic quinoa at a price that can beat
what I get my organic quinoa for locally. For other grains, we consume them once
a week or less, so I do not buy them organic unless that's the only way I can locate
them. For those of you who consume wheat, I bought organic wheat berries in bulk
and ground my own flour. That made the price per pound of flour cheaper than white
flour at the grocery store. Investing in a grain mill can be a good way to afford
organic over conventional when you grind your own flour, whether you are gluten-free
or not. The only items I have heard of people not being satisfied with ground at
home is rice, as it can still be slightly gritty if it isn't soaked.
Beans- We consume beans once or twice a week. I purchase dried beans in order to
maximize my savings, so I purchase organic if the price is not more than double conventional.
Organic dried beans are still cheaper than buying conventional canned beans as a
convenience.
Spices- For spices that we consume only once or twice a year, I go ahead and buy
conventional. For spices that we use regularly I purchase from a company that does
not irradiate their spices, such as Frontier Herb. Whether or not I buy organic depends
on the price and how often we use the spice. For salt, Real Salt or grey celtic sea
salt are the best options.
Condiments- For rarely used condiments, we purchase conventional (except seaweed).
For items we use daily/weekly, such as ketchup and mustard, we purchase organic.
Even though ketchup is in the produce category based off of price, my kids consume
it almost daily so I go ahead and get organic ketchup even if I don't buy organic
tomatoes. Right now, Belle is asking for it on everything and at every meal- it's
practically a food group for her. LOL Sunday she even put it on her raisins.
Drinks- Corn syrup is unhealthy whether it's organic or not. :) So we avoid drinking
anything but water, milk or a milk substitute or lactofermented drinks. If you purchase
juice, follow the same guidelines as for produce.
The Bottom Line- Animal products and produce are your two most critical areas for
organic. Do the others if you have access to it and the funds for it. If not, you
can cut your exposure to many problematic things by going pastured, organic and grass-fed
for animal products and organic for the top pesticide produce.
