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Kris Carr

Blog Post

The Crazy Sexy Guide to Organic Foods

Hi Sweet Friends,

It’s time that we had a serious talk.

The source of my distress? Pesticides, herbicides and all the other icky -icides and chemicals that make their way onto our plates from the grocery store from industrial farming.

Organic foods are part of a movement near and dear to my heart, so this week, we’re continuing our focus on prevention by shifting our gaze to the ground—right to the roots of a problem that we all face every time we eat. Let’s dig in and demystify what’s behind the price tags, politics and progress of organic foods and how it affects our health, our environment, our wallets and our rights.

The Problem

So, what’s wrong with a little pesticide? When I recently asked Elizabeth Kucinich, Policy Director for the Center for Food Safety, why organics are so important she said, “We can choose to support life, or we can choose to destroy it.” When it comes to protecting our health and our world, there are few things more important than the foods we eat and how they are grown.

Simply put, pesticides, herbicides and fungicides that are sprayed onto crops are meant to kill.

Sure, they kill the unwanted stuff, but that’s not all they do. Many of these chemicals, which are poisons by their nature, can make their way into our land, water, food and bodies, wreaking havoc as they go.

Imagine your fruit bowl. Apples are some of the most highly contaminated fruits, landing them right at the top of Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen (a list of the most highly contaminated produce). In tests done by Pesticide Action Network, 42 different pesticides were found on conventionally grown apples! Forty two, of which 10 were known neurotoxins, seven were carcinogenic—and can we really trust the other 25? Throw an apple in your green juice every day, and the numbers of toxins entering your system multiplies at centrifugal speed. Now multiply that number because we certainly eat more than an apple a day to keep the doctor away.

What’s the big difference between conventional farming and organic farming?

In conventional farming:

  • Farmers plant extensive fields of a single crop (called mono cropping), which leads to soil nutrient depletion.
  • To maintain the soil nutrient balance, they add synthetic fertilizers.
  • To control the field environment, they spray hundreds of millions of pounds of chemical pesticides, fungicides and herbicides onto the fields per year in the US.

In organic farming:

  • Farmers plant a multitude of crops, which work together to maintain soil nutrient balance (or, crops are rotated yearly to ensure that the land doesn’t become depleted.)
  • Farmers use natural (as in, derived from mother nature) means of pest control, including natural compounds, friendly bugs and compost-based fertilizers.

The Center for Food Safety describes three levels of chemical contamination on farms: mild, moderate and severe. Organic produce is considered mildly contaminated, since toxins from nearby farms might blow over in the wind and leave some residue. Conventional farms are considered moderate, as toxins are used liberally, and the severe label goes to GMOs.

 

Just how bad are farming chemicals for our health?

The effects of these chemicals on the body have been linked to increased rates of chronic disease. From the farmers who grow the crops (and are exposed to harmful toxins) to the folks who eat the food (that’s you and me, baby!), agricultural chemicals permeate every level of the food production chain. Basically, pouring poisonous junk onto our land, into our water and into our mouths is potentially detrimental to our well-being. It’s freakin’ tricky to be pro-prevention when the very foods that are supposed to nourish us bring with them the party crashers of toxins!

Here’s a list of a few agricultural chemical-related illnesses:

  • Parkinson’s Disease
  • brain tumors
  • non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
  • sarcoma (my personal pickle)
  • birth defects
  • impaired neurological development
  • endocrine disruption
  • leukemia
  • and on and on…

The Big Players

If chemicals are so clearly nasty, why exactly are they so widespread? Seems sorta counterintuitive to put poison onto something you’re gonna eat, doesn’t it? In trying to feed the world’s ever-growing population, it might seem like “better living through chemistry” can make more food for more folks, and faster (which has been the mantra for Monsanto and its cohort for years). Despite the charming marketing spin here, the rampant use of chemicals in farming is leading us to something much closer to H-E-double hockey sticks than a totally fed world.

How’d we get here? Here’s a little piece of information that you might not already have known: Monsanto, a chemical company that seems to like masquerading as a food company, has created some of the most notorious toxins in history. PCBs (big time carcinogens, more on these next week), DDT and Agent Orange (the very same Agent Orange, an herbicide dumped by the millions of gallons on Vietnam, causing Parkinson’s, Hodgkin’s disease, nervous system disorders, prostate cancer and lung cancer, among other nightmares)—all come from Monsanto. US veterans, the Vietnamese and the children of both sides have suffered immensely from the after-effects of Agent Orange.

How did we go from Vietnam to vegetables?

Monsanto’s 1976 creation of Roundup (an herbicide) has led directly to its creation of GMO crops that withstand Roundup (so that farmers buy the GMO seeds, then use Roundup on the entire field, instead of targeting the weeds). Along with two other US-based companies, Dow AgroSciences and DuPont, Monsanto is in the top 10 herbicide-producing companies in the world. Each of these companies does more than $2 billion in yearly sales. Dousing our food in toxic chemicals is big business.

Since the market for organic food has seen a huge amount of growth in the last decade, big ag companies are trying to get a piece of the blueberry pie, but without actually changing their behaviors. There have been huge legislative pushes to weaken the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (which defines the criteria that food must meet in order to be labelled organic)—the only piece of legislation that protects consumer health when it comes to growing food.

The Costs

When you go to the grocery store and see that an organic apple costs more than a conventionally grown one, it’s easy to think that organics are more expensive. In that moment, they sure are. But the price tag at the store is just one measure. Elizabeth says, “Organics are a level-headed approach to cost, as they reflect the true cost of the food.” Hidden beneath the cheaper sticker on conventional items are the costs to our planet in terms of polluted air, soil and water, and the healthcare costs associated with treating the ill effects of toxic exposure.

Michael Pollan hit the heart of the problem when he told Mother Jones in an interview, “One of the problems is that the government supports unhealthy food and does very little to support healthy food. I mean, we subsidize high fructose corn syrup. We subsidize hydrogenated corn oil. We do not subsidize organic food. We subsidize four crops that are the building blocks of fast food.”

Subsidies are one of industrial farming’s stickiest subjects. They were originally developed as payments that the government made to farmers in order to keep farms afloat during the Great Depression. These days, huge industrial farms receive government support while small and organic farms get very little of the subsidy help. Conventional corn, wheat, rice, and soy have been so heavily subsidized that we end up with vast amounts of product looking for new markets.

So where do those crops go? Mostly to feed to farm animals, then to biofuels, and then, as Pollan pointed out, to fast food. It’s no coincidence that the explosion in corn syrup use occurred simultaneously with heavy corn subsidy. Same goes for meat consumption per capita. Considering this deeply flawed set up, it’s really no wonder that organic peaches or broccoli will cost you.

As Elizabeth says, the price tag on an organic apple also often takes into account such concerns as appropriate scale of food production, labor rights, animal welfare and environmental health. Buying a conventionally grown banana might be cheaper when you head to the register, but the big picture of conventional ag costs our society far too dearly.

The Solutions

What’s a conscientious consumer to do? Short of starting your own organic garden (great idea!) there are things that the average consumer can do to help strengthen the organic movement.

  • Buy organic when you can. Even if it’s not every time you get groceries, each organic purchase is a vote for better health and policies. Environmental Working Group has a handy guide to the most chemical-heavy fruits and vegetables (the Dirty Dozen) and the least (the Clean Fifteen), when these foods are grown conventionally.
  • Get educated. Dig deeper into current information on organics with EWG and the Center for Food Safety. These organizations are at the front lines of the organic food movement. For more on subsidies, check out EWG’s Subsidy Database. Read up on the upcoming Farm Bill, and how it will affect our choices.
  • Learn how to save. I totally understand that it’s difficult to afford healthy food, so I pulled together my 10 favorite, tried-and-true money-saving techniques.

Something that Elizabeth said has stuck with me since our chat: when we think of organics and our health, we can think in terms of natural remedies and allopathic medicine. Where traditional doctors might bombard our systems with drugs in a slash and burn approach, natural remedies work with our biology to heal. Organic food is produced in a way that embraces biology and ecology (including us). By choosing organic, we choose to support life.

Our choices have an impact on the market, on our society, and on our health. What we say with our mouths and our money matters, and it’s a choice that we get to make every single time we eat. By supporting the things we want on a daily basis, and pushing for policies on a national level that reflect our values, we can change the face of farming.

So! Now that we’ve scratched the surface of organics and their role in our health, what do we do?

Share this blog with your Prevention Partner, and and let’s talk about it in the comments!

Peace & pesticide-free produce,

Add a comment
  1. Hairstyles says:

    As a Newbie, I am continuously exploring online for articles that can help me. Thank you

  2. Marilyn little says:

    Very good read
    How does one start an organic farm
    What to look for in the soil and how to get it tested

  3. nanette ellis says:

    Time for change. With the new year I changed the what our household eats.. organic, preservative free etc. I have never felt better!

  4. Happy to share the article on my FB page Whole Food and Life and via twitter at wholefoodnlife! I’m with you on plant-based eating and the organic non-GMO approach. Thanks for spreading your knowledge in such a fun, inspirational way! You’re making such a difference in the world!

  5. Andi Smith says:

    I love this post! Thank you for going into so much detail and all aspects of eating organic! You’re such an inspiration and I look forward to your continued success in helping others, like myself, live a happy and healthy life!

  6. Susan Black says:

    I am a big supporter of organic farming. But people should carefully distinguish between organic plant produce (vegetables, etc.) and organic animal produce. The case for organic animal products is far from obvious – BBC has recently done wonderful documentary on the issues. Maybe the best solution is to go vegan. 🙂

  7. Dena Shelton says:

    Hi Kris,
    Thank you so much for being a voice for healthy, organic food! Could you please use your voice to help Colorado and Oregon pass GMO labeling laws? Monsanto and the other agri-giants are going to pour millions into defeating these bills, and if they win it could mean the end of organic food! Please help get the word out, or should I say the truth out, so we can all have the right to know what is in our food and so we can all choose what we put in our bodies. Help stop Monsanto from force feeding us GMO’s!!!

  8. I have only just started using Organic produce and need all the guidance I can get.

  9. Heather Greene says:

    Wow,

    There are soooo many things that people (low-income especially) just arent aware of when it comes to “Organic vs. Conventional” . It’s a tragic situation when a person wants to eat healthier, but cannot due to cost. I pray that someone targets the blue collar community before it is too late. Knowledge really is POWER.

  10. OLABISI says:

    Wish I could share these great articles on LinkedIn. I have privacy concerns about Facebook and suspended my account. Great stuff here though, thanks for sharing.

  11. Elizabeth Elliott says:

    I have been physically sick for about 10 years…my doctor has not diagnosed me with anything and tries to label it as a mental problem or because of perimenopause. I am not mentally ill but I had developed an illness most likely due to some food or other?? intolerance. Just recently, within the last two months, I have taken my puppy to a naturopathic veterinarian and I got ill there with some kind of reaction (I’ve been getting many, many reactions, thinking they’re allergies, over the last 10 years or so) and this vet talked to me and told me I was not here for the dog… I knew what he meant. Well, he set me up with an environmental specialist doctor, which I am to see in November, but also told me to stay away from wheat and gluten. He told me that these two are “killing” me. I took this vet seriously as what did I have to lose – I have been so ill for so long. I stopped eating both as well as sugars (I am hyper or hypoglycemic) and avoided as much as possible any foods that may contain GMO’s and especially corn and my health has improved monumentally in the last two months. I had to substitute for the wheat loss in my diet and I am still learning how to do that and haven’t been able to find a bread recipe I can use as I am also intolerant to yeast and other things. I do hope this specialist can point me in the correct direction to better my health and keep and maintain health as best I can. He is costly but in the end my life and health is worth more than just money. During this process I met a wonderful woman who directed me to your site, Kris. I see others are also waking up and realizing why they may be ill and hopefully finding answers…

  12. Ali says:

    So beautifully put together. I love how straight forward this is. The more we educate ourselves, the more we can make choices that will lead us in the direction we need to be going to heal this planet and the people on it. <3 Thank you for being a part of the community of educators that are pioneering the movement of organic and all that represents.
    <3

  13. David Brown says:

    Great info, perfect explanation for the layman. Or the person looking to improve their diet and their environment

  14. Hi Kris, Thanks for breaking this topic down with actionable steps. We are on the same thought train…I just posted a wallet sized dirty dozen chart for my readers (www.embrace-wellbeing.com/blog) this past week and plan on diving deeper into the topic over the next couple months. I shared this article with my family, friends and clients. It is a beautifully written. You are amazing. Thanks for getting the word out there using humor and making it realistic so people can take the knowledge and apply it to their lives. xo

  15. Hi Kris,
    I just wanted to say I’ve been a fan of you and your story for sometime now. My husband and I are organic vegetables farmers. We work from sun up to sun down during the growing season. We also cook farm-to-table vegetarian recipes to share with our community and on my blog (dishingupthedirt.com) This post really resonated with me because organic farming really is the ONLY answer for our future. Thank you for breaking this all down for your readers and supporters. If the opportunity is ever there I’d love to collaborate in someway. Thanks for being such an advocate for health and wellness!!!

  16. Amazing article, Kris- thank you. You can sense the passion and love behind the words you write- beautiful!

    I try to buy as much organic produce as I can, but my other half questions the role of organics and thinks it’s just a bit of a marketing ploy! I know that this isn’t the case though. We compromised by just eating organic when the veggies are grown in soil (i.e. potatoes), but just doing it this way doesn’t sit well with me. Will definitely be showing him your article!

    Thank you so much Kris for continuing to blaze the trail! xx

  17. Eugenio Sanchez says:

    Truly appreciate your work, means a lot to us. Thank you!

  18. I’ve been a huge fan of Kris Carr since the documentary and first book, as my wife also beat cancer. I even wrote a blog article about how inspirational she had been to me. However I have joined the conversation to talk about organic foods and you have blocked my comments. Why you wouldn’t allow valuable additions to your blog comments is unknown, but this is not a fair way to treat people that have valuable information to share with the community. I will no longer be a promoter of Kris Carr.

    • Elizabeth Castoria says:

      Hi Noel,

      Thanks for your participation. Just wanted to let you know that your comment was not blocked—we don’t block comments. It had gone into our spam folder and needed to be added manually, which we’ve now done.

      All the best,
      Elizabeth, KrisCarr.com Managing Editor

      • Hi Elizabeth –
        Well I guess my comments must continually go to the spam folder because this is the fourth or fifth time I’ve tried to comment on this blog the past couple years and none of my comments have ever shown up.

        After this last time it was clear to me the policy for commenting on this blog must be different for some reason. Thanks for responding.

        Cheers,
        Noel

  19. Excellent post! Here are a few more reasons.
    #1 – When sprayed pesticides can drift into towns effecting children.
    #2 – The farm workers applying synthetic pesticides are in danger, especially in countries with little oversight on farm worker conditions.
    #3 – The pesticides are over-sprayed on nearby wildflowers and they then lower the immunity of bees and can cause colonies to collapse.
    #4 – When it rains pesticides run off of agricultural lands and into rivers, lakes, streams, and ultimately the ocean. Studies show these chemicals effect the entire eco-system from single celled organisms to the drinking water for us humans.
    #5 – The true cost of pesticide laden food and clothing (since the majority of clothing is made from 100% cotton), is not in the cost of the food, it’s in medical bills for workers, decontaminating the drinking water, and things like reduction of insects as food for trout and other fish.

    Don’t panic, just buy organic. It’s a great investment for everyone and everything in the entire supply chain.

  20. Sandi Clugston says:

    Support organic farming please.

  21. Tracy says:

    I try hard to buy organic but at times I cannot due to price so I wash them in ACV hoping. Maybe we should be banning together to get subsidy’s going for organic produce as the arguments for why it is so dear I understand but its not acceptable. Its not acceptable to slowly poison yourself because clean healthy food is out of your reach. But in saying that at the farmers market where the local farmers bring produce and I would not think that these are all on the hand out of government subsidies and are slumming at the local farmers market for some spare change why are there products still so much cheaper than the organic produce. Could it be that everyone is out to line their pockets firstly

  22. Gail says:

    Food is such an emotional topic keep it simple eat clean you feel clean fluffy and sparkle eat dirty and,,,,,,!,, you know where it’s at.

  23. Gal says:

    Grow grow grow you can trust your own food and it tastes amazing.. Since I have been juicing no part of my veggies go un touched leaves to eat stems to juice and roots for the chickens

  24. Rob Croley says:

    Thank-you so much so your stand on organic food, and more importantly, for your stand against the use of chemicals on our food. As a small-scale, organic produce farm, we struggle daily to educate people on the importance of knowing what substances have been used to grow their food. The long term effects of a chemical-laced diet are only now becoming painfully clear. The explosion of neuro-related diseases can be graphed alongside the use of Round-up and the like. The resulting graph, over time, shows a correlation that shocks many people. The other consideration when choosing to avoid the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides is the damage to our planet. One only has to do a tiny bit of research to discover that through the use of chemicals known as neonicitoids, we are very rapidly killing off the world’s population of honey bees. “Big deal,” youu might say. “I don’t even eat honey.” Well, it is a HUGE deal, since bees pollinate 30% of our food crops. Bottom line: No bess- no food. Something to ponder next time you’re at the store, or at your local farmer’s market. Thanks again for helping to spread the word.

    Sincerely,
    A Concerned Farmer

  25. Joan says:

    There is a fruit and vegetable stand by my house and they grow various fruits and veggies. They say that they don’t use any pesticides, but they are not certified organic. I know it can be an expensive and long process to get certified organic. Since the fruits and vegetables at stands like that are a lot cheaper than buying organic at the grocery store, would there be any advantage to paying more for organic at the store, except for the fact that you only have their word that they don’t use pesticides at most stands vs. having the organic certification on the ones sold at the grocery store?

  26. kathleen says:

    Thank you so much Kris! My friend of 30 some years Sharon Gannon introduced me to your book a few years ago and I’m glad to be able to read and share your posts!

  27. Jackie says:

    Kris,

    I live in a country where we cannot get organic celery, apples, or pears. What other substitutes would you recommend? Would you say frozen mixed berries not listed as organic safe to consume (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)?

    Thank you!

  28. Patty says:

    I’m still confused about local vs. organic. I know it’s important to eat local, but all the local produce in my Whole Foods is labeled conventional, and the organic is usually from overseas. I know local farms are probably organic and just don’t go to all the trouble and expense to get certified organic, yet when it’s marked conventional with the four digit number starting with a 4, I’m hesitant to buy it. I would appreciate any advice.

  29. Ryan Nicole says:

    One of the best, most cohesive articles on why organic is important. Thanks so much for sharing with the world! We vote with our dollars, it’s the best way to get our voices heard 🙂

  30. Jennifer Sims says:

    Thank you for this article! For years I have been trying to explain to people why organic is better but they are all concerned with the cost. I have encouraged people to purchase from their local farm stands to support local businesses and sustainability because they don’t realize what eating these toxic chemicals will really cost them in the end. I am fortunate to be a healthy 38 year old woman but I realized that no amount of money can buy health. You need to take care of your body!

  31. Catt says:

    Hi Kris!
    Thanks for this article; I’m a bit creeped out by my golden delicious apples at the moment.
    I wanted to ask you if the conventional veggie washes you can buy at places like Trader Joe’s or grocery stores really work with removing these harmful chemicals..I don’t want to add fire onto fire if it makes it sink into the skin more! I know you wrote about white vinegar washes but I haven’t tried that out..it feels kind of strange.
    Thanks Kris!
    -Catt

  32. Krystyna says:

    Kris,
    Could you post the dirty dozen/clean 15 list separately. When I print the print is distorted and I cannot make out the words.
    Thanks

  33. Pat Robins says:

    I am so beyond thrilled that you have printed this article. Thanks for all you do!!!!

  34. Margot brand says:

    Kris what happened to your event in the Midwest? Oshkosh, WI in particular. I no longer see it listed on your tour. I hope that is a mistake. I am sooooooo excited to see/hear you there.

  35. Lena says:

    Hi Kris, would you be able to post a link to studies that help support some of the info in your article?
    For example: “In tests done by Pesticide Action Network, 42 different pesticides were found on conventionally grown apples! Forty two, of which 10 were known neurotoxins, seven were carcinogenic—and can we really trust the other 25?”. Thanks 🙂

    • Elizabeth Castoria says:

      Hi Lena,

      KrisCarr.com Managing Editor Elizabeth here—just wanted to let you know that I’ve updated the piece with a link to Pesticide Action Network’s website, http://www.whatsonmyfood.com, where you can search by type of food to see what kinds of toxins might be on your groceries.

      Thanks for reading,
      Elizabeth, KrisCarr.com Managing Editor

  36. Savannah says:

    I try to eat organics as much as possible but when I read comments like this, “The effects of these chemicals on the body have been linked to increased rates of chronic disease.” without a reference to a peer reviewed study I worry that statements like this can’t exist without backing it up with science.

    Also, there was a large study that came out that indicated that organic produce was no better than conventional–I’d be curious to know what Kris’s response to that is. If there are legitimate concerns about the study design, I’d love to hear it and become better informed.

    I eat organic because like most of you, I don’t want chemicals in my body– but when I read about the benefits of it, it’s important that statements have references to evidence-based science. Otherwise we’re just moving on our gut which is great (it’s largely why I eat organic when I can), but it’s difficult to know empirically.

    • Laura says:

      I can speak a bit to the study you referenced. The statements made in that study only looked at the nutritional value of the food examined. Basically, an apple is an apple whether it’s grown chemically or organically. It has the same vitamins and minerals. Apples have vitamin C, vitamin K, riboflavin, potassium, etc. So from that standpoint, they’re equal nutritionally. The study, however, completely ignored the side of pesticides that come with the chemically raised apple. It’s a very misleading study that only looked at nutrients and NOT the overall effect of the whole apple (pesticides included) on your body.

      It’s like the commercials you see for high fructose corn syrup that say sugar is sugar whether it’s from corn or cane. That’s a true statement. They leave out the part where HFCS is chemicalized to the point that it’s no longer a food, but reacts in your body more like a pharmaceutical.

    • Glen says:

      Hi Savannah – Laura is so right – this is huge business and the livelihood of millions of people are dependent on these subsidised products as they have now built their incomes around the government support and their existing markets.

      I am sure they and the pesticide/chemical producing companies will be encouraging and highlighting the key points that suit them of course – hence stating that eating organic was no better, and ignoring the pesticide and chemical viewpoint totally. As soon as you look deeper into the report though it stated that it was looking at nutritional content only but it was very badly reported in many cases (certainly in our country they made a big deal out of it until someone high up in the media queried it and then it went quiet again!).
      As do many “scientific studies” with very restricted agenda – they have gone down one narrow track and completely ignored the other side effects or that information which diminishes their wanted result.

      Unfortunately we have to dig deep to see the motivations behind many of these so called “facts”… What worries me is FDA approving levels of these chemicals and pesticides in your country “per item” but what about the cumulative effect of eating chemicals, pesticides, phosphates all day every day on our so called healthy fruit and vegetables. I cannot find any study on the toxic result of food, make-up, household products and how much we really totally absorb every day.

      It is just common sense to avoid any additives we don’t need if we have a choice. My point of view is what I spend on food I don’t have to spend later at the Doctors!! Net Result – Nil..!

  37. pl says:

    The clean fifteen is misleading unless you are also well informed about GMOs. Corn and papaya are on the clean 15, but are more frequently than not GM products.

  38. Kari W says:

    Personally I have been on the battlefield with cancer twice and must admit the first time around I dveled into conventional treatment and for the most part continued to eat as I usually did which was not the standard American diet. The second time around I watched a documentary about foods and the farmer was asked “would he and his family eat the foods they were growing on their huge industrial farm?” And he and his wife answered with a resounding NO!!! That was truly enough for me. Who ever heard of a farmer not eating his own food????

  39. debbie says:

    Why are carrots on this list of the Dirty Dozen…
    http://www.ewg.org/agmag/2010/06/shoppers-guide-pesticides
    (the purple list in the corner)

    but NOT on this list….
    http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary.php

    Just curious.

    What’s the view on carrots?
    Thanks!

    • Krista says:

      Debbie-
      Looks like the list with carrots on it is from 2010. The other list is for 2013. They update them every year, so this year carrots are not in the top 12! 🙂

  40. Kris Carr says:

    Signing the petition is so easy! I just did. What a great way to start the week, activist style. 🙂

  41. Lauren says:

    Kris this could not have come at a more appropriate time!

    I have just come back from a spring detox retreat with the one and only wellness warrior herself Jess Ainscough, and trying to justify the increased cost (even here in Oz) of organic food to hubby. He has read this post and agrees with me that we are worth the investment :o)

    Thanks angel! Keep on keepin’ on xxx

  42. Simone says:

    Wow! This is a great article. Thanks Kriss, you’re so inspirational. I knew that buying and eating organic was important but know I know why. I feel very empowered to spend money wisely to ensure my health. Hugs from Australia.

  43. Nicole says:

    Hi Kris!
    Thank you so much for breaking this down! My fiancé is having a hard time believing in the importance of organics, especially since he was raised to buy the cheapest version of anything regardless of quality :P. But this post lays out the facts and I am definately going to make sure he reads it!
    What helped you get your man on board?

  44. Lucy says:

    Thanks for this. (I now have something reliable to post on FB!) So here’s my question:

    How do you respond to:
    “Organic food is just another conspiracy! My <> is healthy as can be, and they NEVER wasted their money on organic!”
    OR
    “They did everything right, and they are still sick!”

    I get this so often, and it really gets to me. The unwillingness to even listen is sometimes apalling. Just because nothing has happened to you or someone you know doesn’t mean it’s not true! The worst part is that when this happens, I am offering what I have learned from you and your counterparts, after being asked about it! I never offer unsolicited information/advice!

    Anyway, thatnks for doing what you do. I appreciate it very much!
    :o)

  45. Marlene Haanpaa says:

    I am a 74 yr. old. woman who is a living, (still breathing but with more difficulty, at times) example of what the “better living through chemistry” practices, in this country, can do for you. I have become so chemically toxic & therefore, chemical intolerant that I am now a “universal reactor”. I react, literally, to everything that I eat, drink or breath! Somethings stronger than others. I have chronic asthma, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, arthritis, COPD, & a host of other issues. I have had to completely, relearn how to shop for food & cook. I would like to be a vegetarian or even vegan, but my reaction to the grains & legumes forces me to eat organic poultry & beef, otherwise I would be left with very little that I can eat.
    I appreciate your blog & the information that you share. I have learned a lot about how to help my self. Thank you, very much!!.

    • Hi Marlene,

      Grains and legumes are high in lectins and oxalates – soaking them overnight and then pressure cooking them often inactivates these anti-nutrients that bother people. Never know, might help you tolerate them, though I don’t think grains are a healthy food anyways, but the legumes are necessary (I can’t live w/o chickpeas and lentils!).

      It sounds a lot like you may have (as I do) a mast cell disorder (histamine intolerance, mast cell activation, mastocytosis)? Have you ever looked into that? The conditions you mention all have mast cell involvement. It took me 30 years to get a diagnosis because mast cell related disorders present with dozens of seemingly unrelated symptoms. I found that a high nutrient low histamine diet helped clear up my fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and arthritis like symptoms.

      Best of luck with the diet. I know what it’s like to be left with a dwindling list of safe foods…pretty much everything I ate or put on my body triggered nasty symptoms.

      Hope this helps.

    • Joan says:

      Marlene, I have the same problem with grains and legumes. They make me dizzy, tired, bloated and make me gain weight. I am also allergic to soy and have oral allergy syndrome to some fruits and nuts, so I do still eat some meat, though I’d prefer not to ethically. I do eat some gluten free grains from time to time. They don’t kill my stomach like wheat does, but they still don’t make me feel that great. It seems like a lot of people have problems with grains and legumes. I personally think the promotion of them as being healthy for most people is part of why America as a nation is overweight.

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