4 Everyday Foods To Replace With Organic Alternatives
Over the last decade, spending on organic products has increased by roughly 20%. Nearly two-thirds of customers in the United States buy at least some organic goods. While eating vegetables grown without chemical pesticides and fertilizers is “green” for the environment, it may also be “green” for your pocketbook. Organic farming requires more labor, which might cause higher food prices at supermarkets. Only the wealthiest among us can afford to eat solely organic foods. It’s reassuring to know that, according to experts, you need to consume only some organic products. Here are a few everyday foods to replace with organic alternatives.
Potato
The simple, hearty potato doesn’t appear to be screaming for organic alternatives. But it might be the most important: the EWG discovered traditional potatoes had the highest pesticides of any crop. Our potato companion gets a twofold dose of toxins when grown in non-organic conditions. Pesticides are sprayed on the vines above ground to prevent disease, and fungicide applies to the soil where the tubers develop. Potato blight was the villain in Ireland’s mid-nineteenth-century potato famine. It killed almost a million people because there are no viable organic ways to fight it. Organic potatoes are more than twice as expensive as their non-organic counterparts.
Dairy products
We can find pesticides in non-organic milk in trace concentrations. Milk is a crucial element of a child’s nutrition. Thus this is a cause for concern. Organic milk has a higher level of purity than regular milk. Organic dairies provide grain grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers to their cows. Hormones for growth are not permitted. Antibiotics are not given to dairy cows since they may wind up in the milk. Antibiotic use is on the rise, which raises the risk of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms emerging in the future. Antibiotics are not given to dairy cows since they may wind up in the milk. They avoid pesticides and fertilizers in the feed and pasture, which reduces the herd’s environmental effect. Also, keep an eye out for organics in dairy goods like yogurt, ice cream, butter, and cheese.
Meat
The advent of mad cow disease in the 1990s boosted the popularity of organic beef, but the rules for all cows grown as organic are the same. According to US Department of Agriculture laws, ranchers and farmers cannot treat their livestock medicines to make them disease resistant. Some believe that abuse of antibiotics can cause the creation of drug-resistant microorganisms in both animals and humans.
Eggs
Pesticides may pass from chickens to eggs and subsequently to the foods prepared with them. Organic egg proponents argue that the source makes all the difference. Organic eggs of the best quality come from free-range chickens living in a chemical-free environment. As previously stated, the US Department of Agriculture’s definition of free-range is susceptible to interpretation, so if humane treatment is a concern in your purchase, look into the source of your eggs. Do you like white or brown eggs? Despite the common assumption, there is no nutritional difference between brown and white eggs. The chicken breed determines the color of the egg.