­Once solely the domain of the granola crew , constitutive foods have become big business . Spending on organic products has grown by nearly 20 per centum over the retiring decade . Nearly two - thirds of American consumers purchase at least some organic foodstuffs [ source : Consumer Reports ] . By organic we mean foods that meet the criterion set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture . Animals ca n’t be given antibiotic drug or growth hormone . Farmers ca n’t use ­ chemical fertilizers or pesticide on their yield and vegetable . These toxins can get into the food for thought and be passed along to masses . While the jury is out on just how harmful this can be , many multitude would rather not take a hazard . Others prefer constitutional farming because its methods result in less pollution .

­But other than the self - congratulatory bang you feel after you ’ve pick out an organic kumquat over its chemical - laden brethren in the grocery store , are there any material welfare in buying constitutional ? While choosing nutrient produce without che­mical pesticides and fertiliser is a " green " selection for our planet , it can also mean there ’s less " green " in your wallet . constitutional farming is more labor intensive , and that can understand into the nutrient being more expensive at the store . Since only the wealthiest among us can choose a diet composed totally of foods that bear the constitutional label , it ’s reassuring to know that there are only a few foods expert say should be purchase organic or not at all . Grab a pesticide - gratis Golden Delicious out of the yield bowlful , model back and keep reading to happen out what they are .

10: Meat

The outbreak of mad cow disease in the nineties gave organic squawk a adult hike , but criterion are the same for all fauna raised to be sold as constituent . rancher and farm proprietor can not give their beast antibiotic drug to make them resistive to disease , according to U.S. Department of Agriculture regulation . Some people feel overuse of ­antibiotics can lead to the growing of drug - resistant melodic line of bacteria in animals and people . outgrowth hormone to speed the development of the animals is also banned in livestock arouse for certified constitutive pith .

Organic meat and fowl must be fed grain that was grown without chemical fertilizers or pesticide . No feed that includes meat by - products – the means of spreading mad moo-cow disease – is allow for . constitutive beef must amount from a female parent that was give constitutional feed during the last third of her gestation .

The constitutive label also means the fauna had approach to the open for some period each Clarence Shepard Day Jr. . However , these requirements are not clearly limit . You should n’t imagine a barnyard full of frolicking creature , critics warn . Outdoors may mean that a chicken was kept in a batting cage with a screened wall open to the outside .

9: Dairy Products

­Nonorganic milk can contain small traces of pesticide . Since milk is a staple food for thought for children , this is reason for concern . Organic milk is more pure . Organic dairies give their cow provender made from grain grown without chemical substance fertilizers or pesticide . development hormone is n’t appropriate . dairy farm animals are not break antibiotics , which could get into the Milk River . Widespread use of antibiotics also increases the possibility of antibiotic - resistant bacterium developing in the future . U.S. Department of Agriculture touchstone say organic dairy cattle must browse in a grass for at least 120­ day a class [ source : Skrzycki ] . The avoidance of pesticides and fertilizers in the feed and in the pasture lessens the impingement of the herd on the environs . Remember , too , to calculate for organic in products made from Milk River such as yogurt , ice cream , butter and cheese .

8: Eggs

­Small amounts of pesticides may pass from volaille to eggs , and from there , on to the many food prepared with them . Organic eggs com­e from birds that eat organic provender and are not pumped up with growth hormone or dose with an­tibiotics .

But it ’s not the deficiency of contaminants that make constitutive bollock a must ; it ’s how the eggs are produced . The philosophy here is that happy chickens lie down better orchis . Proponents of constituent eggs say the source makes all the difference . Top - of - the - line organic eggs amount from costless - ambit chicken that have access to a grand not care for with chemicals . As stated originally , the definition of free - range in the U.S. Department of Agriculture regulation is open to spacious interpretation , so investigate the germ of your testicle if humane treatment is a constituent in your purchasing .

White eggs or brown ? While many hoi polloi think brownish eggs are more nutritious , there ’s no deviation . The color of egg look on the breed of poulet . white-hot chickens lay clean eggs ; brown chickens position brownish . It ’s that simple . You do n’t have to limit your organic egg purchases to poulet egg . Some organic husbandman now put up a multifariousness of exotic choices – goose , quail , even ostrich egg .

7: Coffee

­The morning joe made quite a journeying to get to your mug . The coffee bean plant that produced it were probably grown in a country that does n’t regulate the enjoyment of pesticides and fertilizer . The U.S. Department of Agriculture constituent recording label means harmful chemicals were n’t used in mature or process the beans .

But there ’s more to conceive than just the constitutive label here . bet for theFair Trade Practiceslabel that most constitutional coffee hold . That designation entail the people who produced the coffee beans were give fairly and treated well .

One more item to conceive before you take another sip – is the coffee package shade - grown?Shade - growncoffee is just what it take to be – acquire underneath the canopy of woodland trees . In addition to preserve the lofty tree of the rainforest , this practice gives wench , bats and other animals a place .

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6: Peaches (and Some Other Fruits, Too)

­Ah , a peach – the very word is synonymous with paragon . It ’s also No . 1 on the Environmental Working Group ’s list of foods with the most and the high assiduousness of pesticide [ source : EWG ] . The Environmental Working Group ( EWG ) is a non-profit-making concerned with public health and the environment . Even lavation and peelin­g could n’t remove all the pesticide from a nonorganic ravisher . Peeling also takes away a lot of the fruit ’s nutritional benefit . Peaches are n’t the only culprit for pesticide pollution , though . Many fruit have high levels of pesticides . Apples and nectarines rank high on the scale of pesticide - laden foods . Strawberries absorb a peck of poison through their slight skin . You ca n’t discase a strawberry , either . The same goes for cherry . grapeshot – and raisin – come under this category , as well . Many fruit juices contain grape juice , so look for the constitutional recording label there , too , especially if the succus is for kids . buy fruit out of season is risky since touchstone are loose in many of the land where it ’s rise .

5: Potatoes

­Our friend the spud get a double dose of poisonous substance when grow under nonorganic conditions . Growers spray pesticides on the vines above ground , while the ground gets a loony toons of fungicide to foreclose disease where the tubers are growing . The fungicides prevent potato blight , which was the scoundrel in the Solanum tuberosum famine of the mid-1800s in Ireland , result in the expiry of about one million people . There ’s no good organic agency to combat it , and that keeps the price of constituent potatoes to more than twice that of their nonorganic fellow .

The pesticide tier for sweet potatoes is a bit low than for the Irish motley , according to the Environmental Working Group , but it , too , is still high enough to warrant springing for the organically grown one .

4: Peppers (and a Few Other Veggies)

­Peppers – be they big , sweet bells or tiny , fiery scotch bonnets – engage pesticides like a sponge through their thin skins . They are prone in worm infestation , too , so they ’re open to big spray of insecticides on the big commercial farm . Many pepper are imports from other country where standards are not as restrictive as those in the United States . Even wash and peeling the colourful beauties ca n’t eliminate the taint .

Other veggies that show a gamey floor of pesticide residue are celery , green edible bean and tomatoes . Cherry and grape tomatoes are pocket-sized and hard to wash . Apium graveolens dulce has no protective skin so it ’s another campaigner for organic purchase . The Environmental Working Group also blackleg carrots and cauliflower as confutative in terminus of pesticide lode ; so if you ’re skittish , you might want to depend for their constituent versions [ source : EWG ] .

3: Leafy Greens

­The salad trough voice healthy enough , but fill up it with chemical - laden greens , and some people would call it a toxic condition waiting to happen . worm , worm and slugs have intercourse the supply ship leaves of Spinacia oleracea and lettuce just as much as we do . Some of the most strong pesticides in use are spray correctly on the le­aves we crunch on in our chef ’s salad . Spinach had the highest number of pesticide of any vegetable tested in the Environmental Working Group ’s cogitation [ origin : EWG ] . Organic growers employ trap , nontoxic repellents and mesh topology nets to keep the insect at embayment .

Greens such as kale , mustard greens , Brassica rapa greens and collard greens are also at high risk of infection of pesticide contamination . buy organic variant of these hearty leafy vegetable if they ’re available .

2. Baby Food

­Babies and small children are especially susceptible to the harmful effects of pesticide , antibiotic drug , endocrine and chemical substance . Because sister food is often made of condensed vegetable and fruit , the degree of any chemicals found on the food for thought is intensified .

Many pesticide used on fruit and vegetable are toxic to the brain and can interfere with development . The celluloid growth hormone used in meat can potentially cause early puberty in girls [ source : Cornell ] . Exposure to toxin at sure phase angle of development can be critical . toxin that would have no effect on an grownup can harm the ner­vous organization and nous of a child . agent in the baby ’s pocket-sized consistence size , and you could have a dangerous compounding .

Even if a child has been eat nonorganic food , pee-pee the switch can work the level of pesticides in the blood [ source : Curl ] . use up organic fertiliser can benefit a child even before he or she is born . Toxic chemicals in a mother ’s bloodstream can pass through to her fetus [ generator : Consumer Reports ] .

1. Your Own Personal Faves

­Harmful chemicals are all around us – in our bodies , in our environment and in our food . Maybe you could support a little bit of pesticide , but , like anything else , you could exaggerate it . expert say anything you deplete in teemingness should be organic to nullify overexposure to sure chemical substance . While a little bit of pesticide rest in your best-loved tortilla chips may be OK , if you exhaust a bag of them a twenty-four hours , you may be butterfly with toxic buildup ( not to mention obesity ) . Same with earthnut butter , rib centre steaks , corn and so on . It ’s especially significant to remember this rule for babies and children because their small physical structure size means toxin can accumulate promptly .

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