Organic Then and Now

I read with interest on a report in Sunday Times today about how organic food has no nutritional edge. My thought immediately went to the sakura chicken (hormone-free) and vegetables from the organic store I buy for Matt at the wet market every Saturday.

Many mothers I know do it - 100g of that $9/100g Angus organic tenderloin for the tod and 500g of whatever beef that's on offer for the family. 2 pieces of sakura chicken breast meat versus 1 whole "normal" chicken. 4 organic apples for $5.50 versus 'lelong' 3 for $1 apples. Former for the tod, latter for rest of family.

Organic products are expensive. I dish out more moolah for them for Matt, not for "nutritional edge," but out of fear of how the excessive pesticides used to make vege look perfect and hormones used to fatten the chicken might harm him.

Sometimes I think, well, my mom did not cook anything specifically organic for me or my brother, and we seem fine, so is it necessary? I rationalized that use of pesticides were less prevalent in my toddler days. Perhaps it was even cheaper for the farmers to not use pesticides! Production efficiency through hormone injection was probably not as widespread.

I don't know. I guess some things you'll never know. Better be safe than sorry.

I did some reading up on organic food when Matt was about to start solids a year back. Here's a list of products published by the Environmental Working Group in the US that ranks pesticide contamination levels based on tests done by the USDA (U.S Department of Agriculture). I spend only on what are necessary, conveniently accessible, and not waaaay too expensive! The Dirty Dozen is a good rough guide to the top 12 foodstuff that are better organic and 12 that we do not really need to buy organic -

Better organic - eggs, apples, bell peppers, celery, cherries, grapes, nectarines, peaches, pear, potatoes, spinach, strawberries

No need organic - asparagus, avocados, banana, brocolli, cauliflower, corn, kiwi, mangoes, onions, papaya, sweet peas