Knowing When Choosing Organic Will Have the Greatest Impact

If you've been reading my blog or or know me personally, you'll know that I'm not one to advocate for simply jumping on the bandwagon, "Because everyone else is doing it."  If you're going to make the decision to become a locavore, buy organic, or whatnot, I think it's important to learn about what you're doing and have a good solid reason why you're doing it.  You should know your facts and back-up your position.  Nothing bothers me more than someone who does something because it's the latest fad or because someone else told them it was the right thing to do.

The other day, I was reading one of the many blogs that I follow, Fed Up With Lunch, and I happened upon a link to an article called, "10 Fruits and Vegetables to Buy Organic."  While the article doesn't go into a lot of scientific detail, I liked it for two reasons.  First of all, it wasn't an all-or-nothing approach to eating organic.  It was a sensible approach where the author basically said, "Okay, we can't all buy all organic all of the time, but we can target the problem where it matters most--the top 10 most important items."

The second reason I liked it is because the author backed-up each of the 10 line items with at least some rudimentary mention of scientific studies and the effects on people and the earth.  At the very least, the article provided you with chemical names and studies to look into further.

It's this kind of sensible approach to making changes that we can all adopt.  While we can't be expected to go 100% local, 100% organic, or whatever all at once, we can make educated choices when faced with a limited grocery budget that may allow you to buy only one or two sustainably produced items that week.