This has probably been my most discouraging part of this journey. Organic really is twice as expensive. I am feeling much better simply by eating whole natural foods, but it would be nice to not have the extra toxins in the food. So, I was happy that Jillian addressed the organic issue. I'm going to type a lot of what she says, because she puts it so well.
What is the best way you can be sure to avoid 90 percent (that's a huge number..) of all hormone-disrupting agents in our food supply? Go organic.
Organics help you stay slim and prevent diabetes. More than 90 percent of endocrine-disrupting pesticides that hang around in our body tissues come from foods we consume - especially animal products.
Organics help you avoid scary hormones. The FDA currently permits six kinds of steroid hormones to be used in producing cattle and sheep. 80 percent of U.S. feedlot cattle are fed or injected with steroid hormones. Each of these cows gain up to 3 pounds per day.
Organics help you avoid pesticides and other chemicals.
Organics help you prevent antibiotic resistance. Massive use of antibiotics in the meat and dairy industries leads to widespread antibiotic resistance, exposing us to potentially fatal bacteria such as MRSA.
Organics makes your food taste better. Duh!
Organics in season make your diet more diverse.
Organics make your food more nutritious. Organic fruits and vegetables can't rely on pesticides - they have to fight off bugs with their own "immune systems". naturally raising their antioxidant levels. (I thought that was interesting)
This was a pretty powerful example regarding organic that she used:
God created tomatoes and they have all the cancer-fighting health benefits mentioned above - the best form of medicine with no harmful side effects. Now let's take our little tomato and see what happens in the name of capitalism. The tomato is grown conventionally, and sprayed with up to seven kinds of pesticides. Then it is picked too early because it must make the long journey across the country - or across the world - from its original location to your supermarket. Yes, you are now polluting the environment with all the gas used to transport the tomato. But there's more. The tomato is still green because it was picked too early, so now it is sprayed with argon gas (also used to euthanize dogs) to make it turn red prematurely. WOW! We have just taken God's natural medicine and turned it into poison - for us and our environment.
Now I understand why all you tomato lovers prefer a fresh home grown tomato!
My favorite part: she talks about the price of organics. And understanding that not everyone has enough money to go completely organic, she broke down what you should do if you can afford it. She does mention that if more and more people eat organic, organic food will become cheaper. Kind of a catch 22 if you ask me. You have to have the money to buy it to begin with. But here's her list:
ALWAYS BUY ORGANIC:
meat, dairy, eggs.
coffee
peaches and nectarines
apples
bell peppers
celery
berries
lettuce
grapes
foods you eat a lot
SOMETIMES BUY ORGANIC
I call this the "Hey if you've got the cash, why not?" section. Better safe than sorry.
processed foods (this confused me.....)
onions
avocadoes
pineapple
cabbage
broccoli
bananas
asparagus
corn
mangoes
DON'T BUY ORGANIC
seafood
water
foods you don't eat that often
Soo..nice to have the list, except the majority of the food we eat falls in the "always eat organic category"
wow, i was not happy bout what happens to those tomatoes!!! thats wayy not cool!
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