Buy Organic

Why From Greg Horn's book titled Living Green:

the typical bag of potato chips you buy at the supermarket has been subjected to over 50 chemicals from seed to shelf and can contain up to 75 times the "safe" levels of cancer-causing acrylamide established by the state of California.

The EPA now considers 60 percent of all herbicides, 90 percent of all fungicides, and 30 percent of all insecticides as potentially cancer-causing.

in 1995 [Dr. Walter] tested a patient for 18 of the more common pesticide residues and found the patient had 9 of them in his blood, including DDT [which was] banned in 1972.

the average American consumes 14 pounds of chemicals a year just from additives like artificial food colorings, flavorings, emulsifiers and preservatives; 2 pounds of the 14 are synthetic chemicals... such as pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, hormones and heavy metals.

What is organic? I'll let the National Organic Program from the USDA handle this one...

How Shhh! Dispel your current myths of organic food buying. It can be easy and cheap.

1. Farmers Markets are spreading like crazy. Use Google to find local ones. Talk with the farmers to find out their practices, even if their food isn't USDA certified organic.
2. Trader Joe's is a cost-effective way to find great products that are organic.
   
3. In my opinion, Whole Foods is the mecca of healthy shopping. They really don't mess around (for example).
4. Grow your own food at home or in local community gardens. Again, Google is your friend here.

I used to shop at Whole Food exclusively (when I had a job), but now I hit up Trader Joe's (now that I'm a grad student). Taking a quick look through my pantry, many items are organic. I can shop at TJ's and get most everything I need for about $30/week. I sleep easy at night... do you?

Image: http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/indexNet.htm