Did You Know ~ When to Choose Organic

Did you know which foods provide the most benefit when bought organic? First, let’s start with a little review of the word “organic”. The term “organic” refers to the way agricultural products are grown and processed. Organic farming practices are designed to encourage soil and water conservation and reduce pollution. Farmers who grow organic produce and meat don't use conventional methods to fertilize, control weeds or prevent livestock disease, but instead conduct sophisticated crop rotations and spread mulch or manure to keep weeds at bay. An organic certification program by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requires all organic foods to meet strict government standards.

If a food bears a USDA Organic label, it means it's produced and processed according to the USDA standards and that at least 95 percent of the food's ingredients are organically produced. The seal is voluntary, but many organic producers use it.

Here are some other terms or labels you may see on products:

• 100 percent organic. Products that are completely organic or made of all organic ingredients.
• Organic. Products that are at least 95 percent organic.
• Made with organic ingredients. These are products that contain at least 70 percent organic ingredients. The organic seal can't be used on these packages.

Given the higher price of organic foods as compared to conventionally grown products, it can sometimes be difficult to know, which products are the most important to buy organic. When making the decision ‘to buy or not to buy organic food’ consider these top 10 organic choices. They are in order of importance, so replacing #1 will bring the most health benefits for you, your family, and the planet. You don’t have to change all 10 items at once, even changing one of the items on the list to organic can have a positive impact on your health. Today we will share the first 5 on the list...

1. Choose Organic Milk: Given the large amount of milk that tots drink, replacing conventional milk with organic milk should be at the top of your list. Organic milk is free of antibiotics, artificial hormones, and pesticides. Moreover, organic cows must be allowed to graze on pasture during the growing season, which leads to healthy organic cows.


2. Organic Potatoes: Potatoes are consistently on the list of most (or even the most) pesticide-contaminated vegetables even after being washed and peeled. Yet, potatoes (including French fries) are the most commonly eaten vegetable by tots.


3. Peanut Butter: Peanut butter is a staple in many homes and most kids love it. However, if you look at the ingredient list of a jar of peanut butter carefully, you will notice that in addition to peanuts, it often contains corn syrup, sugar, partially hydrogenated and/or fully hydrogenated fats, mono-and diglycerides, the pesticides ferric orthophosphate and copper sulfate. In contrast, organic peanut butter has a short, natural ingredient list often only containing peanuts and a pinch of salt.


4. Organic Baby Foods: Dr. Greene states that the most important time to eat organic is from conception through age 3. The bodies and brains of out tots grow faster during this period than at any later time. Also, babies and tots are more vulnerable to environmental toxins than adults.


5. Catsup: Tomatoes are the #1 source of the important nutrient lycopene, one of nature’s most potent antioxidants, known to help prevent and heal cell damage and to reduce cancer and heart disease risk. Most tots love catsup and are happy to eat it with many foods (if we let them). An analysis of different catsup brands found that organic catsup is on average 57% higher in lycopene and have double the antioxidant power than conventional catsup brands. You may even decide to switch to organic marinara and pizza sauce at the same time!

Check back later this week to see the remaining 5 as well as a bit more info on this topic.

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