Buying Organic on a Budget

For those who would love to buy organic but are needing to watch their budget, here's few tips on how to buy organic cheaper!

1.) Comparison shop. Compare different products at different markets. Some sell organic baby food for $1.29 while the same product at another location would be $.69. As for produce, you'll always save when you buy fruit in the season.

2.) Go local. You can find organic growers at most farmer’s markets, and a USDA study in 2002 found that about 40 percent of those farmers don’t charge a premium. For listings of local farmer’s markets and other sources, go to www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets and www.localharvest.org .

3.) Start your own organic garden or join a community farm team. You'll save when you start producing your own organic products!

4.) Order by mail. National providers will ship items such as organic beef ( www.mynaturalbeef.com ). Some local businesses, such as FreshDirect ( www.freshdirect.com ) in the New York City area and Pioneer Organics ( www.pioneerorganics.com ) in the Pacific Northwest, offer home deliveries. Other helpful sites are at www.eatwellguide.org and www.theorganicpages.com .

5.) Be a supermarket spy. Make sure you get what you pay for by watching where produce sits on shelves. All grocers are legally required to stack organic fruits and vegetables where they won’t be exposed to water runoff from the misting of conventional produce, which could contaminate organic items with pesticide residue. If a store is not following that rule, you may be wasting your money by buying organic produce there.

Most importantly, remember that things are done best in moderation. You don't have to break your budget, just be a smart shopper and choose what things make the most sense for you to go organic on. Good luck and happy shopping!

Another Benefit of Organic Diary

In a new recent study, researches found that CLA's and omega 3 Fatty-acids help prevent the build up of abdominal fat in young obese individuals. The study's findings do not support the same outcomes in lean individuals or older obese individuals. However, this research can be very helpful to those who are young and obese.

Organic diary products have more CLA's and omega 3 fatty-acids. So an increase in organic diary products can not only help in the prevention of cancer and reduction of cardiovascular disease, but it can greatly assist in weight management. So next time you reach for your yogurt, reach for an organic brand!

Pesticides and Childhood Cancer

Having a background in pediatric oncology, I am always interested to find out the links, risks and possible causes of childhood cancer. In two recent studies, scientists researched over 25 million children up to the age of fourteen. In these studies, scientists found that there were elevated risks for several types of cancer in those children living in areas with increase pesticide use. Elevated risks of cancer were found for Hodgkin lymphoma, Wilms' tumor, renal carcinomas, Ewing's sarcoma, thyroid cancers, and malignant melanoma. Organic produce and foods dramatically reduce the exposure to pesticide use. It's a point to think about for sure. For more information, you can look up the research articles:

S.E. Carozza et al., "Risk of Childhood Cancers Associated with Residence in Agriculturally Intense Areas in the U.S," and

H.R. Andersen et al., "Impaired Reproductive Development in Sons of Women Occupationally Exposed to Pesticides during Pregnancy," Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 116, No. 4, April 2008.

I believe that it's always important to be aware so that you can make educated choices in your individual lives.

GE Foods

Some visitors to our blog have asked about identifying GE (i.e. Genetically Engineered) foods in the supermarket. My favorite tool in this respect has been a pocket guide published by The Center for Food Safety. You can download a free copy at http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/.

Basically any whole foods, almost all fruits, vegetables and grains are NOT genetically engineered. On the flip side, the four worst offenders are: corn, soy, canola and cotton. The byproducts of these crops are what you need to be wary of: corn oil, corn meal, cornstarch, corn syrup, soybean oil, soy flour, soy protein, soy lecithin, canola oil, and cottonseed oil.

Check out the Center for Food Safety's book "Your Right to Know" for more detailed information on the danger of genetically engineered food.