Organic Foods: Are They Better for Baby?

We’ve all been there, standing in the grocery store, looking at fresh fruits and vegetables, and wondering, “Is organic really better for my family and me? Is it worth the extra cost?”

Organic foods are usually grown with fewer pesticides than other foods. But according to the American Dietetic Association, organic foods may not be healthier or safer than other kinds of foods. We don’t have enough research to know.

Some parents have decided to be cautious and to buy organic foods when they can.

What’s Organic?
If a vegetable or fruit is labeled organic, it meets certain standards set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Here are examples of the standards:

• Only approved fertilizers, weed killers and pesticides can be used. Man-made products are discouraged. Organic farmers often use natural fertilizers such as manure and compost. Instead of using weed killers, they rotate crops, till, weed by hand, and mulch.
• Genetic engineering and certain types of radiation cannot be used.

Certain organic standards also apply to animals used to produce milk, eggs and meat. For example, they may not be given hormones to promote growth or antibiotics for any reason. Also, the animals must have access to the outdoors, such as a pasture.

Foods that meet USDA standards can be labeled with the “USDA Organic” seal.

Organic foods usually cost more than non-organic foods. For instance, in May 2008, Newsweek reported that organic red delicious apples cost $1.99 per pound, while non-organic cost only $1.49. Organic eggs cost $3.99 a dozen; non-organic, $1.89.

What Are Natural Foods?
Natural foods are as close as possible to their original state. No artificial ingredients or preservatives are added to them. Examples: brown rice, almonds, certain apple juices. Natural foods may or may not be organic.

What’s a Parent to Do?
First and foremost, it’s important for your child to eat a well-balanced diet. If organic foods are available and you can afford them, great; give them a try. But don’t sacrifice good nutrition for the organic label.

Regardless of whether food is organic or not, handle all food carefully and safely. 

Shopping and Safety Tips

• Buy vegetables and fruits when they’re in season. This will help ensure the best quality. For example, buy apples in the fall and berries and tomatoes in the summer. This also saves on fuel to transport produce from far away.
• Read labels carefully. Organic may not mean healthy. Some organic foods are high in fat, sugar or salt.
• If you worry about pesticides, peel all fruits and vegetables. Trim the outer leaves of leafy vegetables like lettuce and cabbage. But remember, peeling may also reduce  nutritional value. Pesticides are sometimes found in the fatty parts of food. So remove fat from meat and the skin from fish and poultry.

How will everyone deal with my organic baby hopes?

I have already set up an organic baby registry on Amazon, and I am not even pregnant. Amazon by the way now has a Green Shopping department (love it!). But can I really expect friends and family to respect my wishes for baby to be organic and green? No, right? But then what, how will I be able not to favour the organic toys for baby before they can reach out for them themselves. And can I even ask friends and family at all to buy organic for baby? I guess I will deal with it when I come to it, but I really do not know how. Worst thing is, that my husband works for a toy company and so we would be able to have a lot of toys for a good price – but do I want to? Not really. Am I too much you may ask? Well I am the only one in the family with asthma and allergy. I am the only one who suffers for constant stomach pains. I do think it is because I used to many chemicals and ate wrong, when I was younger. Because I grew up in a beautiful suburb with our house placed between a big lake and the forest. No factories or big roads nearby. No fields spraying chemicals. I must be something I introduced to my lifestyle (later moved to London, England for many years surrounded by heavy traffic and ate wrong, used a lot of makeup and creams). So no, i don’t think I am too much. There must be a reason why so many cannot get children, why so many suffer from asthma, allergies, cancer, diabetes (even kids), rashes, illnesses of all sorts that we did not see 40 years ago. If I can be alt least sure that I do not inflict any of this on my child as long as it is in my hands then why would I not? And if food and environment turnes out not to be the ones causeing it, well at least I was rather safe than sorry.

Pesticides in veggies

Fruits & Veggies

RANK	FRUIT OR VEGGIE	SCORE
1 (worst)	Peaches	100 (highest pesticide load)
2	Apples	96
3	Sweet Bell Peppers	86
4	Celery	85
5	Nectarines	84
6	Strawberries	83
7	Cherries	75
8	Lettuce	69
9	Grapes – Imported	68
10	Pears	65
11	Spinach	60
12	Potatoes	58
13	Carrots	57
14	Green Beans	55
15	Hot Peppers	53
16	Cucumbers	52
17	Raspberries	47
18	Plums	46
19	Oranges	46
20	Grapes-Domestic	46
21	Cauliflower	39
22	Tangerine	38
23	Mushrooms	37
24	Cantaloupe	34
25	Lemon	31
26	Honeydew Melon	31
27	Grapefruit	31
28	Winter Squash	31
29	Tomatoes	30
30	Sweet Potatoes	30
31	Watermelon	25
32	Blueberries	24
33	Papaya	21
34	Eggplant	19
35	Broccoli	18
36	Cabbage	17
37	Bananas	16
38	Kiwi	14
39	Asparagus	11
40	Sweet Peas-Frozen	11
41	Mango	9
42	Pineapples	7
43	Sweet Corn-Frozen	2
44	Avocado	1
45 (best)	Onions	1 (lowest pesticide load)

What to have in your kitchen to be healthy

Here is a short list of what we keep in the pantry and fridge to stay healthy (make it all organic);

Virgin coconut oil (fantastic for high temperatures and a very healty alternative to oil)

Flaxseed oil (take at least 3 tbsp a day to keep a healthy body)

Multivitamin (pre natal for me and one with at least 15 mg zinc for him)

Quinoa (fantastic instead of rice, to make cakes and bread of)

Brown rice flour (so much healthier than white flour and its gluten free too)

Stevia (healthy non calorie sugar substitute)

Protein (every morning I bled a fruit smoothie with protien in to make a whole meal that meets the bodys requirements – find recipe on this page)

Lecithin (good for memory)

Mayo (the healthy one with only eggs, salt, vinegar use as substitute for butter and cream)

Ricemilk and soyamilk

ORGANIC! Nuts, raisins, apricots, cranberries, dates, prunes ect (healthy snacks)

Psyllium (fibre that most do not get enough of, use very little though its effect full)

Frozen fruits

vegetables (snack carrots)

Organic meats

I found The One (shampoo)

You might have guessed by now, that if you use an ordinary shampoo from the supermarket or CVS it is most likely filled with chemicals that are no good for you and can be linked to cancer (yes really).

It takes time however to find a good organic shampoo, and of cause its different for everybody, but I would like to reccommend this one to you. Actually it was a customer in Wholefoods who saw me reading the lable of all the shampoos on the shlef who said that this one made his hair really shiny and nice – so I picked it and he was so right! My hair lookd tired and dull and after using this one once it looked like I had a haircut and intense salon conditioning.

It says its for oily hair but all types can use it. The rinse is good too.

You can find it here: http://www.aubrey-organics.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=802

Shopping Organic?

My closest supermarket is Stop & Shop, and they do have organic just not very much, and the veggies have often gone bad even when they still sit there on the displays. I am happy they have anything at all though, and sometimes I find some new organic or eco friendly thing there and that really makes me happy.

The best place I have found is obviously Wholefoods or as they say Wholepaycheck, it is such a nice supermarket but my god its expensive! The one I go to is in Cranston, RI and everytime I am amazed with how much the staff knows about everyting, so I treat myself once in a while and go there and I always spend too much. I have not yet found any good foodplaces to shop online (the shipping is always so expensive) or local organic farms or markets. I have found a fantastic Organic Gardening center in Cranston called Good Earth Organic Gardening Center, and the owner is the sweetest.Im still looking for new places to shop though, and I am not giving up!

Good Earth Organic Gardening Center
1800 Scituate Ave.Cranston, Rhode Island 02831 (United States)
Phone: 401-826-3130