As a conscientious food consumer, you know you have the choice between buying and eating organic or conventionally-grown food. But there are other factors you’ll also need to consider if you want your eating habits to have a significantly less harmful impact on the environment.

Why Organic?

Organic food is grown “without the use of conventional pesticides and artificial fertilizers, processed without ionizing radiation or food additives” (Wikipedia). Ionizing radiation is a process commonly used in conventional farming to artificially increase shelf-life in food chain stores. Pesticides, which contain petrochemicals, are used to kill insects and other pests that damage produce. There is a growing concensus among scientists that even small doses of those pesticides can cause significant health problems, while polluting the soil and our waterways.

What is Organic?

To be called organic, products must carry one of the following labels: USDA Organic or Hormone or rBST- or rBGH-Free (for dairy products). You can also trust the Certified Naturally-Grown label, a label used by smaller farms who sell locally and who grow products following USDA Certified Organic methods. Organic food is more expensive than conventionally-grown food because organic farming receives no subsidies from the government (unlike conventional farming) and certification costs money to the farmers, hence a slightly higher price for the end-user. If you can afford spending a few more cents or dollars on your groceries, you should certainly prefer organic over conventionally-grown. 

Organic or Local?

You will for sure be confronted with this dilemma: should I choose organic apples from New Zealand or conventionally-grown, local apples? Even if you don’t understand much about carbon footprint, you can rule that it makes little sense for a food to be labeled organic if it means for it to travel thousands of miles to come to you. That apple’s journey from New Zealand to you will have cost the planet unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions and have unwarranted food-mileage (“food-miles” describe the distance food travels from where it is grown or produced to where it is purchased or eaten by the end-user). Produce are not sprayed and treated equally: if eating a conventionally-grown apple will give you a high dose of pesticides, a conventionally-grown avocado won't. Consult the EWG's Guide to Pesticides to know which produce you should buy organic, and which can be bought conventionally grown.

Don't Forget Seasonal!

There is another part to the equation, however: buying seasonal, that is, eating produce when Mother Nature intended us to. Read our two other articles on Buying local and Buying Seasonal to make a more informed decision on your next grocery shopping trip.