Cooking with Bill and Terri – Eating Organic

At the end of May, 1972, my mom told me she had breast cancer. As she underwent treatment, she also did research, and found a link between the hormone DES that was fed to beef at the time and was linked to cancer. I was already exploring healthier eating options, as well as eastern religions, so I decided to stop eating beef (and lamb and pork and other mammals) for one year. I never started again, and so was spared all the angst of Mad Cow Disease, and later all the links with heart disease. 

We love Farmer’s Markets, whether nearby or when traveling.

More recently, we had our own encounter with the “big C”, and took a closer look at our diet, and determined that using as much organic food as possible could be very beneficial to our health. While it is tough to absolutely prove it, this study seems to show a 25% reduced risk from cancer by eating organic foods. Read how eating organic can reduce cancer risk link here: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323407

The problem with conventionally grown fruits and vegetables is the residual pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals. Many of them are linked to cancer in humans; they are absorbed into the cell structure of plants, and cannot be washed off. The Environmental Working Group has a list of foods that are the worst to buy that are conventionally raised:

Dirty Dozen™

EWG’s 2020 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce

Dirty Dozen™

EWG’s 2020 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce™

1. Strawberries

2. Spinach

3. Kale

4. Nectarines

5. Apples

6. Grapes

7. Peaches

8. Cherries

9. Pears

10. Tomatoes

11. Celery

12. Potatoes

+ Hot Peppers

Eating organic can be more expensive, so EWG also put together a list of the Clean Fifteen, foods you can safely buy and eat that don’t need to be organic:

Clean Fifteen™

EWG’s 2020 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce™

1. Avocados

2. Sweet Corn*

3. Pineapple

4. Onions

5. Papaya*

6. Sweet Peas Frozen

7. Eggplant

8. Asparagus

9. Cauliflower

10. Cantaloupe

11. Broccoli

12. Mushrooms

13. Cabbage

14. Honeydew Melon

15. Kiwi

The * denotes plants that may use genetically altered seeds.

Organic fruits and vegetables are now widely available at Fred Meyer (Kroger), Walmart, Target, and even Costco! Our very favorite place to shop and get the very best in organics is at our local farmers markets. Generally they are picked the same day, so they are incredibly fresh, and often young and tender, plus they often offer many more varieties. 

Things we didn’t used to think about: raisins are just dried grapes, which is #6 on the dirty list. Oats aren’t on the list, but we use them a lot for our home-made granola, so we get organic. Canned tomatoes, pasta sauce and salsa uses tomatoes, #10 of the dirty list, so we go organic there, as well as canned beans. 

Organic rice and beans and organic kale served with papaya habanero sauce on top of “natural” chicken.

Finally, a huge percentage of organic foods are grown on smaller farms, grown by independent farmers. In this day and age of huge conglomerates taking over the world, it feels good to support the little guy/gal trying to make the world a better place. Food grown with love and cooked with love … we think that’s a win/win! 

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