Local Vs. Organic

Dear T.,

I agree with most of the advice given already and I would like to add a few comments.
Look at where the food is coming from. If it is coming from halfway around the world it is usually grown so it can travel well at the expense of taste and often nutritional value. Food that has to travel many miles is also using more fuel and energy to get to us which is something to think about. Choose foods that are in season. Blueberries in winter come from the southern hemisfere...
There are a few foods you should by organic even if they are not certified organic which is a certificate that is expensive for small farms to obtain. It's best if you know who is growing the food.
Grapes and carrots and usually most veggies that you eat whole should be pesticide free. Grapes will store the chemicals more easily than other fruits.
If you are interested in learning more I would recommend Barbara Kingsolver's book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle". It can be a little preachy but if you can ignore that, it is very educational.

I hope this helps,
A.

Organic has to be grown following particular guidelines, local does not. However, it's really expensive for small farms to become certified organic. As a result, many of what the small local farms grow are organic in all but name.
Personally, I believe that it is much better to buy local over organic. Local is often fresher (meaning it retains more of its nutrients) and it has a smaller carbon footprint, so it's better for the environment. A lot of the organic food we see at the market is shipped from farms that can be hundreds if not thousands of miles away.

(Chef) E.

I've heard that if/when you can't buy organic, buying anything grown in the US is best. We have much stricter guidelines about pesticides than outside the US. When I heard this, I really started noticing how much of the fruits and veggies are NOT from the US (blueberries are often from Chile, avocados are from Mexico, etc.)...

Organic is certified by the government that it contains no pesticides, no additives, etc. It's expensive & difficult to get that certification from what I understand- so some local (small) farmers may in fact be using organic methods, but not be certified as such. If you're only concern is what your baby is exposed to, go organic. If you're also concerned about supporting the local economy & small farmers, head to your local farmers market & talk to the farmers. In my experience, they're always friendly & willing to answer questions like that.

Organic is always best, if you can't find what you're looking for in that category then go for local. Organic labeling does not allow food to contain pesticides, chemical fertalizers, additives or preservatives.

Local means it was grown locally. Economically, local is great as the do not need extra gas and other stuff to get it to you. Great to support our local businesses!
Organic means that it was grown with out pestacides. It can be local and organic....
Organic has to be certified to be called organic by companies and they need to follow specific guidelines to use the name organic.

Hi, basically backing up previous posters: We absolutely prefer to do local AND organic rolled into one. When local organic isn't available, we go for distant organic if it's possible. And it's really true that a lot of local farmers grow stuff organically or pretty close to it, but just don't have certification, either because it's too expensive or because of prior land use or whatever. It pays to get to know your food source! We are about to have our first and are currently in an apartment, but are really looking forward to the day we can grow our own, locally and organically! Oh, you've probably heard about the "dirty dozen" but just in case you haven't, a few places have said the following are things you really want to get organically whenever possible because of the high concentrations of pesticides found in them when tested: peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, lettuce, grapes, pears, spinach, and potatoes. Supposedly the "safest" things to buy non-organically are onions, avocado, pineapples, mango, asparagus, kiwi, bananas, cabbage, broccoli, and eggplant. Of course, "safest" for you and your baby doesn't protect the workers...and with bananas especially being so affordable, we always get organic...though it drives us crazy that they are so often packaged in plastic unneccessarily!!! Good luck with your search for healthy foods!

Hi T.,

Here is what I know:
Local: All local means is that it has been grown within a certain distance from where you are buying it.
Organic: For a food to be "organic" it is actually a certification. That certification is based on how the environment has been cared for. I'm sure that there are websites that you can find to tell you the exact process a grower (whether veggie or protein) must go through in order to get their products "Certified Organic." However, be careful. There is a farm near me that completely adheres to all of the restrictions to be certified organic, but hasn't received the label only because of what the land was used for a long, long, long time ago. I have no problem considering this food organic although it doesn't get to advertise it as such.
Therefore, with these things in mind, it is also possible to find items that are BOTH local and organic.
Now, for your next question..... If organic is not an option.....
I always try to find local produce myself. If you are buying locally, then the food should be fresher, and in season. You know that it has not been traveling 3-4 days from Argentina and then sitting in a storage facility somewhere, then travel again until it finally reaches your store.
You may want to find out from the co-op if all of the food is local or not. Then find out what is organic. A bonus is anything that is both local and organic at the same time. If nothing local is organic, find out why--it may be that they are simply unable to label it, not that they are actually using chemicals of any kind (like the one near me).

Hope this helps some--oh, and by the way...... Congratulations on your marriage and baby!

Hi T.!
Local vs. organic is a huge debate right now. Especially with gas prices being what they are. I work at a health food store and we talk about it frequently with our customers. Most feel that of course organic food is the best thing we can do for ourselves and our children. The advantage of "local" is that it doesn't travel great distances driving the price up because of fuel costs. You can usually meet the farmer who actually grows it and most of the time even though they aren't certified organic (the process takes lots of time and money) the do practice sustainable harvest methods and use minimal pesticides if at all. Of course if you can find local organic foods and produce that is even better. I generally will choose local over organic when given the choice because I want to support my local farmer and the economy of my community. Most farms in my area are small family run operations who depend on the summer harvest to make up a bulk of their annual income.

My understanding is that local is usually organic, but the biggest reason to do organic is because they don't use chemicals or pesticides when growing their food. I think for that reason, organic is far more important. If a local farmer is using chemicals or pesticides, I wouldn't want to feed that to my child (then I'd rather just have a corporation's food since their chemical practices are regulated and local farmers aren't).

Personally, I fed my baby Gerber Organic baby food and felt good about it (she's now a healthy just-turned 1-year-old). Good luck to you!

T.,
If you can, local AND organic is the best. =) That's what we try to do. Otherwise, we do organic - we won't put pesticides and junk into our bodies just because it's local. But if organic is not available, we would try to choose local.

Your best bet is to get to know your local farmers this year. Ask them about their growing practices. Pesticides and chemical fertilizers are expensive, so odds are that they are rarely used. Certified organic has become big agribusiness these days. While all those extra acres of chemical free land is a good thing, in many cases it has become monoculture and not necessarily good balance for local flora and fauna. Becoming certified organic is also expensive and difficult to obtain for the small farm.

Many small farms are now opting to go "certified naturally grown". This is far less expensive, yet still holds the basic premise of land sustainability that organic originally intended. Check out http://www.naturallygrown.org/standards.html for certified farms in your area.

I don't know how many times I've bought the organic baby salad greens, only to have it start going bad within 3 days(they are coming from California). As a comparison, I've taken lettuce from my own garden and had it last for 2 weeks in a camping cooler! Reducing the carbon footprint of the food you buy will insure a fresher product for sure. Also keep in mind, fresh frozen veggies hold more nutritional value than canned or any of the lifeless produce sold during the winter months around here.