PrintFive Easy Ways to Go Organic: Are They Right and Are There Others?
The New York Times had a blog post the other day that was brilliantly titled Five Easy Ways to Go Organic. Throw "easy" and "organic" into the same title and you're bound to elicit a response. If they had thrown "cheap" in there as well, they would have seen thousands of comments on the blog posts instead of hundreds.
The gist of the post, which was mostly gleaned from an interview with Alan Greene, author of Raising Baby Green:
Switching to organic is tough for many families who don’t want to pay higher prices or give up their favorite foods. But by choosing organic versions of just a few foods that you eat often, you can increase the percentage of organic food in your diet without big changes to your shopping cart or your spending.
The key is to be strategic in your organic purchases. Opting for organic produce, for instance, doesn’t necessarily have a big impact, depending on what you eat. According to the Environmental Working Group, commercially-farmed fruits and vegetables vary in their levels of pesticide residue. Some vegetables, like broccoli, asparagus and onions, as well as foods with peels, such as avocados, bananas and oranges, have relatively low levels compared to other fruits and vegetables.
So how do you make your organic choices count? The author suggests five organic foods that are readily available, consumed frequently, and not prohibitively expensive.
But were the five easy ways easy and right?
The author cited milk, apples, peanut butter, potatoes, and ketchup as relatively affordable organic alternatives.
Most nonorganic milk sold in my neighborhood grocery stores is free of artificial growth hormones and antibiotics, so I wonder if it's worth it to spend the extra money to buy the organic milk? This is a question for Greene.
Organic apples are very difficult to grow in the Northeast at least, and the organically grown apples trucked in from Washington state leave a large carbon footprint. I think the wise thing to do is buy low-spray apples at a farm stand from a farmer you trust. How do you develop that trust? Talk to him or her. Farmers love to talk about what they do.
Greene's argument for buying organic peanut butter is compelling. 99 percent of conventionally grown peanuts are apparently sprayed with fungicide to kill mold. Many stores have a "grind your own organic peanut butter" set-up that's fun, easy to use, and certainly guarantees freshness. Plus, there are no shortage of organic peanut butter brands widely available. Even Skippy, I believe, is making an organic product.
His potato argument is equally compelling:
A simple switch to organic potatoes has the potential to have a big impact because commercially-farmed potatoes are some of the most pesticide-contaminated vegetables. A 2006 U.S.D.A. test found 81 percent of potatoes tested still contained pesticides after being washed and peeled, and the potato has one of the the highest pesticide contents of 43 fruits and vegetables tested, according to the Environmental Working Group.
I'm down with buying organic potatoes, Dr. Greene.
I just had my first organic Heinz ketchup on a delicious patty melt served at Middle Ground, the coffee bar on the campus of Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. It tasted virtually identical to regular Heinz ketchup. According to Greene, "recent research has shown organic ketchup has about double the antioxidants of conventional ketchup." I'm also down with the ketchup, then.
Finally, are there other organic foods that fit the criteria mentioned above? On his website, Greene makes a compelling case for organically raised and fed beef, which is considerably more expensive than corn-fed, conventionally raised beef (except if you buy the organic beef from Australia, which again raises the question of its carbon footprint). Another is organic wine, which may turn out to be the fountain of youth we have all been looking for. Greene says:
In my opinion, the closest thing to a Fountain of Youth nutrient may be resveratrol. It is found in the skin of red grapes, and has been shown, in at least some circumstances, to have gentle antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, neuroprotective, anti-aging, and life-prolonging effects. Resveratrol is found in wine in amounts big enough to make a difference for a person drinking a moderate amount. Red wines consistently have more resveratrol than do whites.
In testing, organic wines average 32 percent higher resveratrol levels than their conventional counterparts.
Sounds intriguing at the very least, doesn't it?
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12 Comments:
As far as the beef cost goes, it depends on how you buy it. Buying a split side of grassfed, natural beef direct from the farmer costs around $3.00 per pound, steaks and all. This is cheaper than mass-produced conventional beef at the local chain grocery store or Wal-mart. You do have to cook all the cuts and not just the ones you select, but that is not a bad thing. The money for the meat also all goes direct to the farmer, which is a very, very good thing.
ExpatChef at 10:28AM on 10/25/07
But I think if we're trying not to alarm people who find the concept of going organic frightening, then urging them to buy a side of beef (unless they live out here in Montana where that's totally normal and everyone has a freezer) might be aiming a little high. I liked the approach of this article, even if I did quibble with some of the details -- if we can get people to start switching to organic potatoes alone -- the pesticide load not only on the food but on the land is so toxic -- that would be a good start.
Charlotte at 10:49AM on 10/25/07
Split side of beef? Isn't that a lot of meat?
I wonder about the carbon foot print thing. You know why? Because coal power plants generate a huge chunk of our carbon footprint (40% of energy related co2 emissions, compared to 33% for transportation). And this is no place to divert the food discussions, but it's an apple. Fuel efficiency is something transportation companies worry about. I still eat the cheapest apple out there, regardless of origin.
And the pesticides. Are there longitudinal studies that show the difference in life span and quality of health for organic eaters vs. pesticide fruit and growth hormone animal eating individuals like myself? I just wonder. Does the price differential over the course of my lifetime justify living an extra [x] amount of years or living the last [x] amount of years in better health? I like numbers. No one ever has numbers on this. And I know someone is ripe to say, "Oh I feel so much better since I changed my diet." but I feel great. Is there greater payoff for eating organic once I get older?
foodinmouth at 11:20AM on 10/25/07
These are all complicated issues, not as black and white as some advocates imply. The side of beef thing is problematic for those of us living in apartments with small freezers. If you've got a big freezer it's fine. As far as eating the cheapest apples, they will undoubtedly not be local, unless you happen to live in eastern Washington. And they wont be the tastiest either. because those apples will have been off the tree a long time.
But as I said, there are many different viewpoints on all these issues.
Ed Levine at 11:46AM on 10/25/07
I think dairy is a crucial area in which to eat organic. More importantly, I would take his advice a step further and say the milk should come from pasture-raised cows.I realize that that wouldn't fall under the realm of EASY. Currently, finding that milk is an ideal that is difficult to achieve, especially since large organic milk producers are vague about how much the cows are grazing etc.
izzy's mama at 12:44PM on 10/25/07
I had always heard that one of the first changeovers to organic one should make is bell peppers. Organic peppers in the middle of winter are pricey, so I don't buy that many.
doglover at 1:06PM on 10/25/07
I agree with the dairy, because it has a lot to do with the cow's diet and quality of life as well. I am one to pick more organic the further up the food chain I go, simply because the animal eats organic food and is produced in an organic way - a double-whammy of sorts. It is interesting to learn about the potatoes, and I will make the switch now. Ketchup? Well, I really don't eat much of it, so if that is where I am planning on getting my antioxidants, I will have problems.
foodette at 2:15PM on 10/25/07
I think it's impossible to define the "best" or "easiest" way to go organic without first defining the individual's reasons for going organic. Is it environmental? Fear of toxins from pesticides? Fear of hormones? Just a desire to go "au naturelle"? Each of the many reasons why a person would want to go organic greatly effects the way they should do it.
I, for one, choose organic for environmental reason, and barely anything in this article applies. In fact "organic" as a label is largely irrelevant to me without a whole lot more info on how close to me the crop/meat was grown, whether the animal was fed things they're supposed to actually eat, and whether or not the chickens get to keep their beeks, etc.
If a person's just worried about pesticides, then I guess this is a good place to start. But that's not what "organic" was originally intended to mean.
Tactful_Cactus at 2:19PM on 10/25/07
We never made a conscious decision to eat organically, it just happened. I think it happened because, after we moved from a sprawling metropolis to our island (twice the size of Manhattan, 4500 people), it was available. There are CSA farmers. Many people have a small orchard. Some have a few egg producing hens. Without trying very hard, we have fruits and vegetables (lots), milk, butter, eggs, beef, pork, and lamb. We spend more on food, but so far it hasn't been a problem, not a dramatic difference. We have learned a lot about the seasons and their well-documented delights. And that chickens and cows need to take a break sometimes.
We have been fortunate to find ourselves here. I know there are other places scattered around the country where organic is readily available and relatively affordable. But when I think about how this could be a widespread, general occurence, I realize that considerations such as economies of scale and carbon footprints will arise. So, right now, I am thinking that Greene has a worthwhile strategy.
hen I think about how this could be generally available, I know that consideration of issues such as economies of scale and carbon footprints will arise.
islandexile at 2:32PM on 10/25/07
When I think about organics, I always think local and sustainable first and foremost. That covers what tactful cactus is talking about. If food is local and sustainably raised or grown, that is, the people growing or raising it care about the animals, air, land and water that's involved in doing that, organic is almost an inevitable byproduct rather than a mandate.
Ed Levine at 5:28PM on 10/25/07
island exile: where do you live? It sounds like a wonderful place to eat!
izzy's mama at 8:51PM on 10/25/07
Izzy's mama: We live on Orcas Island in the state of Washington. Most of us think it is the most beautiful place on earth while trying not to be too smug about it. Living here seems to release whatever creativity one's gifted with, and food is one way that is expressed. There are frequent potlucks of varying sizes, friends or community gatherings. The food is often, but not always, amazing.
islandexile at 9:46PM on 10/26/07