Organic In Chicago

What Are the Most Important Organic Foods? A Handy Checklist

Posted on June 1, 2009 by diane

Photo of Fresh Produce @ the West Side Market by leadenhall @ flickr

I know, organic foods are expensive. I would love to be rich enough to buy everything I eat from a local organic market, but alas I don’t make that much money.  So I did some research to find out which foods are the most important to buy organic and which I can get from the “regular” sections at the supermarket to save some money. A quick rule of thumb:  If you eat the skin of the fruit or vegetable, buy organic.  So berries, apples, and salad greens fall into the “always go organic” bucket.

Meat and dairy are other foods you want to always buy organic.  The growth hormones, antibiotics, and pesticide-laden, genetically modified foods given to these animals promote resistant bacterial strains.  Growth hormones given to livestock abnormally speed up their growth, and these animals are often fed things that they would never have encountered in the wild.  All this adds up to much less nutrition for your body, a miserable life for the animal, and bad news for the environment.

For lots of details on the ins and outs or organic eating (including recipes!) I highly recommend the book “Master Your Metabolism: The 3 Diet Secrets to Naturally Balancing Your Hormones for a Hot and Healthy Body!” by Jillian Michaels, one of the trainers on the Biggest Loser TV show.  This list is taken from the book, and I’ve added some notes of my own:

“MUST HAVE’S”: ALWAYS BUY ORGANIC

1. Meat, Dairy, Eggs
2. Coffee- This one surprised me at first. Coffee is often grown in countries that do not regulate the use of chemicals and pesticides. As long as you’re going organic with your java, try and buy organic beans that are Fair Trade. This means that the farmers who grew the beans were paid fairly.
3. Peaches & Nectarines
4. Apples
5. Bell Peppers
6. Celery
7. Berries
8. Lettuce & Salad Greens
9. Grapes
10. Foods You Eat a Lot!- If you’re going to put lots of something into your body, make sure you’re not getting a big dose of chemicals too.
11. *Carrots & Green Beans- This wasn’t taken from the book, but from what I have found while researching the topic both carrots and green beans can be loaded up with pesticides, so it’s recommended that you them buy organic.

“NICE TO HAVE’S”: BUY ORGANIC IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT

1. Processed Foods- Most processed foods are corn or soy based, filled with chemicals to make them taste like “real” food, and not very nutritious. You’re not buying much of these anyway, right?
2. Onions
3. Avocados
4. Pineapple
5. Cabbage- Remember to peel off the top layer and wash before eating.
6. Broccoli- Make sure you rinse fresh broccoli too before eating.
7. Bananas
8. Asparagus
9. Corn
10. Mangoes