by Kerry Foster

Created on: April 04, 2007   Last Updated: May 04, 2007

I am often asked which items I buy organic and which I do not. While everyone makes their decisions differently, here's what I do for my household. They are in order of importance.

Fats- Animal fats are critical to purchase organic, pastured and grass-fed, as fats are where toxins are stored. Animals that are raised without chemicals and in their natural diet will have the lowest levels of toxins. For vegetable based fats, like olive and coconut oil, the priority of having organic is much lower.

Meat, Organ Meat and Eggs- Due to antibiotic usage, hormones, and the ethical stewardship of animals, I only consume organic and 100% pastured (biologically appropriate food and environment) meats from a farmer I can verify and personally speak to. I avoid buying factory farmed, organic meat unless that is all that is available to me. If you find a local farmer, often this meat will be the same price or even less than the organic meat at the local health food store. That is certainly my case, as the prices I pay for the pastured and organic meat is the same or less (and sometimes much less) that what I pay for organic but not pastured at the local HFS. Some times, it will be much less if you buy a large quantity at one time. I do not purchase conventional meat if I can help it, with the exception of foods that we very rarely consume that are expensive.

A word about liver- liver doesn't not actually store toxins, it processes them. So livers from pastured animals do not pose a toxin threat as many people assume.

Dairy- When I was able to consume dairy, I only consumed organic, raw, and pastured dairy for the same reasons listed above with the meat. I do not purchase pasturized dairy in any form for any reason, as its consumption leads to repeated sickness and sinus problems in my family, aside from the allergy issues I experience.

Veggies and Fruits- Food News did a good study on pesticide usage rates and levels. I use their findings to decide for my family which produce I will only buy organic, which I will buy conventional, and which I will decide based off of price. Personally, based on their ranking, I will only buy the top 19 items organic and numbers 32-43 as conventional. I had been buying organic asparagus and yellow onions at a double price over conventional when I saw this article, so I'm glad that I found it. I decide on numbers 20-31 based off of price breaks and sales, and how often we consume the item. For example, we typically only consume grapefruit once or

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>