Food for thought....

[Jean]

Dear sisters, it is a new year and I know that we are all aware that our diets have a significant impact on our health. While we are aware that buying organic foods are a great way to go, the food budget may not permit or have limits....consider this...some foods it really does not matter if it is organic...for example: a bananna.

The "most" contaminated produce are the following and you may wish to consider organic with these foods.

Peaches, Apples, Sweet Bell Peppers, Celery, Cherries, Lettuce, Grapes (imported) Spinach, Strawberries, lettuce.

While the absence of chemicals is best, we can also focus on regional and seasonal produce that does not have to travel great distance to get to our local market.

[RhondaH]

meat and dairy (due to the added hormones) and pkg. food that has BAD additives (HFCS) etc. Also, look for generic/organic when possible (Meijers has a HUGE selection). I do a LOT of cooking from scratch (95%) and now TONY only likes organic pop tarts not "REAL" ones...says they are TOO sweet AND my homemade oatmeal (he and my mom BOTH are firm about ONLY the bulk organic oatmeal...not even Quaker... that I get from the health food store). Not to promote another web site, but in these "economic emergency" times you want to do what you can, I am a member of Frugal Village and their message boards have a LOT of frugal organic people on there with VERY awesome ideas. Here's the link. Take care and God bless.

http://www.frugalvillage.com/

[hutchibk]

The ones that I buy organic, no fail, are meats/poultry, dairy (except cheese, most of the time I buy conventional), the fruits and veggies that Jean listed above, as well as coffee, tomatoes and potatoes (and a few others if they are reasonably priced). Otherwise, I buy my conventionally grown fruits and veggies from USA. I never buy anything conventionally grown in Mexico due to the unclean/foul water used for irrigation in many regions.

And here's some helpful tips and info that I have found:

RANK FRUIT OR VEGGIE SCORE

1 (worst) Peaches 100 (highest pesticide load)

2 Apples 89

3 Sweet Bell Peppers 86

4 Celery 85

5 Nectarines 84

6 Strawberries 82

7 Cherries 75

8 Pears 65

9 Grapes - Imported 65

10 Spinach 60

11 Lettuce 59

12 Potatoes 58

13 Carrots 57

14 Green Beans 53

15 Hot Peppers 53

16 Cucumbers 52

17 Raspberries 47

18 Plums 45

19 Grapes - Domestic 43

20 Oranges 42

21 Grapefruit 40

22 Tangerine 38

23 Mushrooms 37

24 Cantaloupe 34

25 Honeydew Melon 31

26 Tomatoes 30

27 Sweet Potatoes 30

28 Watermelon 28

29 Winter Squash 27

30 Cauliflower 27

31 Blueberries 24

32 Papaya 21

33 Broccoli 18

34 Cabbage 17

35 Bananas 16

36 Kiwi 14

37 Sweet peas - frozen 11

38 Asparagus 11

39 Mango 9

40 Pineapples 7

41 Sweet Corn - frozen 2

42 Avocado 1

43 (best) Onions 1 (lowest pesticide load)

This website has some good info:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/pesticide-residues.cfm

Tips
~ Although apples rank high in pesticide residue, apple juice ranks low. Apple juice is a good substitute for non-organic apples.
~ The residue levels in canned peaches are drastically lower than for fresh peaches. The processing requires vigorous washing which removes most residues from the skin. Also, different varieties of peaches are grown for canning, which require less pesticide to grow.
~ Sprouts are easy to grow in the home, very inexpensive and highly nutritious. Sprouts may be the simplest source of organic produce for you and your family.
~ Some of the fruits and vegetables which rank low on the pesticide residue scale may have higher rates of pesticide residue if they come from certain countries. Ask the produce manager in your local supermarket for country-of-origin information.
~ Cherries from the US are three times more contaminated than their imported counterparts, which are among the cleanest fruits and vegetables analyzed. Cherries contain a compound known as ellagic acid which counteracts carcinogens, so it's worthwhile to seek out a source of imported cherries if you live in the US or Canada.
~ Are pesticide residues less of a problem in canned and frozen fruits and vegetables? Probably, although most of the research has been done by the food industry. The washing and blanching to prepare fruits and vegetables for canning or freezing removes or destroys approximately 80-90% of pesticide residues, according to the U.S. based National Food Processors Association.

[hutchibk]

and I am now learning more about how to avoid GMO (genetically modified foods...) which is a whole new area of self-protection.

Here's some good info about that. It is not talked about much but is becoming very prevalent in our US food supply. And will become more prevalent. Beware.
http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Genetically-Modified-Foods

[Rich66]

I just updated Lani's post on brain cancer. Truly food for thought..though not comforting to hear in the season of "comfort food".