Which Foods Are Better to Buy Organic?
By Caterina Christakos

There are many reasons for the organic food movement. For one thing, it’s about fighting back against decades of large farming companies overusing pesticides and other chemicals to grow their crops. It’s also about buying local, which supports the local economy while using less energy, and it’s about encouraging environmentally-friendly and ethical farming practices.

In light of all of these noble goals, there are some foods that are not particularly affected by organic food practices. For example, these fruits and vegetables are either highly resistant to pesticides or have a thick peel that protects them:

· Pineapple

· Asparagus

· Banana

· Avocado

· Kiwi

· Onions

· Mango

· Papaya

Foods that are more directly affected by non-organic food practices are the opposite. They don’t have hard shells, and they have a texture that makes them vulnerable to chemicals. These are just a few examples of foods that are better to buy organic.

1. Meat: Many types of large factory farms feed animals antibiotics and other chemicals to make them grow better and to make them resistant to disease. These chemicals inevitably make it into the meat, which in turn finds its way onto your dinner plate. Meanwhile, if you care about the happiness of the animals, organic certification requires for the animals to have some time outdoors every day-although in many cases, they’re still treated very poorly.

2. Coffee: With coffee, it is important for the beans to be grown organically, but there are also other designations to look for. For example, when a coffee has “Fair Trade” on the label, this means that the people in the country where the beans were harvested have been paid fair wages. And if you see “Shade Grown,” it means that no rainforest has been destroyed to grow the beans.

3. Some fruits: Peaches are first on the list of the Environmental Working Group’s list of types of food that have extremely high concentrations of chemicals. This is simply because of the soft texture of the fruit and the extremely thin skin, which lets the chemicals penetrate deeply into the fruit.

Other fruits that absorb a lot of pesticides: apples, strawberries, cherries, and grapes. Because grapes are prone to contamination, it’s also a good idea to get organic wine.

4. Leafy vegetables: In the vegetable family, leafy greens are particularly vulnerable to pesticides and other chemicals. Because they have a high risk of infestation, companies love to spray them with high doses of bug-killers. And no matter how many times the leaves are washed, you can never fully get rid of the chemicals. When you buy organic, you’ll get untreated leaves that can easily be washed.

5. Peppers: Peppers are like sponges when it comes to pesticides, so washing them does not get rid of the chemicals. It literally gets into the pepper, permeating the material. Other vegetables with similar issues are green beans, tomatoes, and celery. And although they’re not technically vegetables, non-organic potatoes tend to carry a double dose of poison, since they’re grown in the ground, where the elements can be rougher.

Caterina Christakos is a published author and reviewer. Read her latest reviews of the, Black and Decker rice cooker and other Black and Decker appliances.

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