Organic food is a fast-growing trend with no signs of slowing. The main reason for this is that it takes us back to a time when fresh produce dominated the market, not frozen or processed food.

At the same time, people feel happy that organic farming supposedly promotes environmentalism, as it can potentially and significantly lessen the increasing carbon footprint across our planet. That being said, many of us are still confused about what “organic” really means. Often times, we consider organic food and natural food as one and the same. While many of us think that way, it is not quite correct. As we probe deeper into organic foods, let’s differentiate these virtually similar – misleading – labels.

Organic food is defined as food items that use a higher quality of environmental practice in accordance with the regulations of a certifying organization called USDA or United States Department of Agriculture. This strict regulation focuses on food production practices that decrease food contamination.

Natural foods, on the other hand, have no legal entity to supervise the food processes and do not have criteria that they strictly need to follow. The “natural food” seal usually claims that they only use less chemical preservatives compared to other kinds of processed foods. Therefore, it is not guaranteed that all natural foods use healthy practices. Because of the said differences, there is a demand for organic food over natural food.

Organic Food Standards

The manner of production is not the same with all organic food products, and processing varies from country to country, even from region to region. Organic food standards help to monitor the quality of our foods by prohibiting the use of:

• Poisonous synthetic fertilizers and pesticides

• Sewer sludge fertilizers

• Genetic engineering

• Growth hormones

• Irradiation

• Antibiotics

• Artificial ingredients

• Many synthetic additives

Understanding Organic Labels

As opposed to natural food seals, organic food seals are strictly observed and monitored by the government. USDA categorizes each organic food product into the following:

100% organic: Must contain 100% organically produced ingredients

Organic: Must contain at least 95% organic ingredients

Made of organic ingredients: Must contain at least 70% organic ingredients

Have some organic ingredients: May contain less than 70% organic ingredients

Healthy Organic

Aside from better taste, organic foods provide a number of health benefits. Practicing organic farming reduces our exposure to contaminants such as pesticides and heavy metals commonly found in foods. USDA performed a study on more than 94,000 food samples in which they found at least one pesticide residue on approximately 75% of non-organic fruits and vegetables. Compare this to organically grown fruits and vegetables, which only had approximately 25% pesticides. In addition, organically grown foods, on average, appear to contain higher levels of protein, vitamin C, mineral levels and flavonoids.

Minimizing exposure to these potential toxins is an important benefit to our health, seeing as many of these have been classified as potential cancer-causing agents. By eating organic foods we avoid consuming hazardous synthetic pesticides, heavy toxic metals that can be found in canned goods, and solvents, such as benzene and toluene. Synthetic pesticides and solvents are potentially carcinogenic, while a high intake of solvent benzene can cause arthritis.  Metal cadmium exposure has been linked to increased risk of lung, prostate and testicular cancers, anemia, neurobehavioral development, decreased stature and growth and impaired hearing.

We are what we eat. Food is one of the most important parts of our health, going inside our body day by day, month by month and year by year. For this reason alone that the quality of food is extremely crucial in our health.

Organic-Must-Buy

The Environmental Working Group says that 99% of apples, 98% of peaches and 97% of nectarines are all positive for at least one pesticide residue. Most of all non-organic grapes and bell peppers tested positive for 15 different pesticides while cherry tomatoes, snap peas and strawberries showed 13 different pesticides. Hence it is essential to spend extra and buy these foods organic. Here is a list of foods that are recommended to eat organic, as most of them have a high level of pesticides.

• Apples

• Peaches

• Nectarines

• Strawberries

• Grapes

• Celery

• Spinach

• Sweet bell peppers

• Cucumbers

• Cherry tomatoes

• Sugar snap peas (imported)

• Potatoes

• Hot peppers

• Kale

• Collards

• Dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream)

• Corn

• Soybeans

• Zucchini

• Yellow Squash

• Canola

• Sugar Beets

• Papaya

• Eggs

• Dried herb and spices

Organic On A Budget

Even with the above health benefits, people are still skeptical about eating organic food, not because they do not believe in the harms of non-organic food, but because of the expense. We list down six resourceful tips on budgeting your way whilst reaping the benefits of eating organic foods.

1. Use organic coupons and find discounts. Check websites and social media accounts of your favorite companies.
2. Budget your groceries and make a shopping list before you go to the grocery. Compare each brand’s prices as well.
3. Reduce organic meat consumption and replace it with organic vegetables and beans. If you’re not ready to be a vegan yet, do it slowly, bit by bit. For example, be a vegan at breakfast, break time and dinner, and if you must, have your meat or fish at lunch.
4. Look for local organic foods as these are significantly cheaper than those with heavy air-miles.
5. Grow vegetables yourself instead of buying them. Make your own smoothies or granola bars.
6. Stop wasting food. Practice proper food inventory management. For example, organic citrus fruits last up to 1-2 weeks longer if you put them in the fridge.

We know that there are lots of local, organic growers in Singapore. Send us in your favourites, especially if you’ve done price comparisons and have valuable information to share. I know that organic food can burn a hole in our pockets, and we’d love to share your resourceful tips and insights.

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