Organic?

Anyone who follows my teaching at all, probably knows that if you value your health you should avoid foods grown/raised with conventional herbicides, pesticides, growth hormones, are genetically modified, etc. What you may not have gleaned is that organically grown/raised foods have more nutrients. So we highly recommend that you get organically grown foods whenever possible.

However, I know that it is not always possible. A list has been published on the top foods that are most important to purchase organic if you can, and  those that are least harmful, if you must purchase non-organic.

Produce is what we usually think of, when we think of buying organic. But butter contains the most residues (i.e. worst to buy non-organic), and meat is next.

Worst non-organic produce:

Peaches
Apples
Sweet bell peppers
Celery
Nectarines
Strawberries
Cherries
Lettuce
Grapes (imported)
Pears
Spinach
Potatoes

Safest non-organic produce:

Broccoli
Eggplant
Cabbage
Banana
Kiwi
Asparagus
Sweet peas (frozen)
Mango
Pineapple
Sweet corn (frozen)
Avocado
Onion

Another interesting bit of information I learned is:

* A conventionally grown product carries a 4-digit PLU code (Ex: conventionally grown banana: 4011)
* An organic product carries a 5-digit code, starting with the number 9: (Ex: organic banana: 94011)
* A genetically engineered (GE or GMO) product has a 5-digit code, starting with the number 8: (Ex: GE banana: 84011)

All info taken from – and more can be read at –  Mercola.com

The information on PLU codes is great info to have, but know that stores do not HAVE to use it. So just because an item only has a 4 digit code, it does not mean that it is NOT GMO. (Personally, I have yet to see one that IS labeled GMO. However they are happy to label the organic with the 5 digit code beginning with 9. So that is helpful for buying organic produce.)