Apr 17, 20226 min read

Your Easy Guide to Buying Organic

Updated: Apr 25, 2022

Let me try to un-complicate the grocery shopping experience: to buy organic or not? Can I even keep my grocery budget? Can I get away with not buying organic?

The purpose of this blog is to make you, the consumer, make educated shopping decisions and be curious to research more about the everyday foods you eat.

First, what is Organic?

Any fresh fruit, vegetable, packaged food, seed, or animal feed can be labelled organic.

Organic production is a farming practice that is free of toxic and routine use of synthetic pesticides & fertilizers (What is Organic, n.d.). Organic farming also pays very close attention to the health of the soil.

You need to keep in mind that ”organic” is a strictly regulated term.

In Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) inspects and approves all organic claims. The conditions that are not allowed (prohibited) in organic production are listed below:

I think it is also important to learn what is acceptable in organic production. Below highlights what organic agriculture does to maintain and protect the health of the soil, food production, and animal welfare:

(Are Organic Foods really healthier?, 2019; Robinson et al., 2022)

The Certified Organic Label

Only certified organic products will have the Canada Organic logo label or sticker.

The certified Canadian organic label looks like this:

This label certifies that the product has been approved by the Canadian government’s standards. It is suitable for products that are or contain 95-100% organic ingredients.

Products that are 70-95% organic must declare their exact percentage of organic content including the statement “Made with Organic Ingredients.” They are not allowed to have the Certified Organic logo.

Products less than 70% organic may only identify organic ingredients in the list of ingredients. They are also not allowed to have the Certified Organic logo.

To learn more about the Canadian permitted organic claims on products, click here.

In the US, “organic” labelling is certified by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Click here to learn the USDA’s Organic Standards for crops, livestock, and handling.

The USDA's certified organic labels look like this:

Similarly, this is what the label looks like on food packaging:

Why is Organic expensive?

I am not going to deny that organic foods tend to be more costly than non-organic versions of the same foods. However, I am starting to see prices decline as the demand increases and companies are investing in organic education and training.

To answer this question, I will quote a short and simple response I really like from HelpGuide who posted a very detailed organic guide on their site:

As mentioned in the response above, the Organic Council of Ontario (OCO) explains the top 9 reasons why organic is more expensive. Read all about it by clicking here.

Benefits of Buying Organic

Besides reducing your exposure to harmful pesticides, organic production benefits the environment, farmer, consumer (you), animal & human welfare. Choosing organic means opting for higher quality food whose production causes the least harm to all aspects of life while supporting sustainability and fairness. In many cases, organic produce tastes better because you are not eating pesticide residues. I can personally attest to eating a conventional ripe papaya (a thin-skinned fruit) that tasted very bitter compared to an organic ripe papaya.

Here are more reasons why you should opt for organic foods:

I understand that buying everything organic is not always wallet-friendly. (Believe me: I am a student living in Toronto.) I also understand that access to organic foods can be limited depending on where you live or your current circumstances. For example: you are vacationing in another country, on a road trip, rushing to get to work and didn't have time to meal plan, feeding a large family with picky eaters or simply a full-time student living in Toronto.

Do not worry! Do not stress.

My best advice, know your produce pesticide levels.

One life-changing resource I learned in nutrition school was the Environmental Working Group (EWG) website. EWG is a non-profit environmental group that analyzes chemical safety and agricultural laws in the United States (US). If you are a Canadian like me, you may be aware that Canada and the US share similar economic and agricultural practices. Besides, the US is Canada's largest trading partner (heavily importing & exporting products/goods with each other), and the two countries' relationship is the largest in the world.

EWG's 2022 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce

Every year, the EWG posts two produce lists. The first list is called Clean Fifteen. This is a list of 15 fruits & vegetables that have the least amount of pesticide exposure. The second list, called Dirty Dozen, is a list of 12 fruits and vegetables that involve routine use of pesticides, and thus have the highest levels of pesticides. Produce not mentioned in the Clean 15 or Dirty 12 lists does not have to be purchased organic. But the choice is all up to you.

You will notice that the fruits & vegetables listed in the Clean Fifteen list tend to have multi-layer skins you can peel or cut. Those skins can act as a barrier from pesticides that were sprayed on them. The Clean Fifteen list is ordered from cleanest produce (lowest pesticide exposure) to reasonably clean.

The Dirty Dozen list is known as the top 12 fruits and vegetables with the most pesticide use & exposure. The list is ordered from most to least "dirty". The fruits and vegetables on this list tend to be thin-skinned and in close proximity to the ground. EWG highly suggests you purchase these produce organic as best as you can.

Other Foods I Personally Buy Organic

dairy products (in particular, sour cream, yogurt, butter and milk)
boxed or loose-leaf herbal teas
peanut butter (preference for natural peanut butter which has peanuts as its only ingredient)
oats (steeled cut, quick or rolled)
corn products (canned, whole kernels, frozen)
soy products (in particular, edamame, miso paste, tofu, soy sauce, soy milk)
if there's room in my grocery budget, animal meats (poultry, pork, beef)

Other tips for buying organic on a budget

Believe it or not, organic foods can cost the same as (or even cheaper than) non-organic foods! I will share with you 2 real cases this past month. For Easter, I decided to make chocolate-dipped strawberries for my whole family. To my surprise, I found the President's Choice organic chocolate bars on sale at Superstore for $1.79 each and ended up buying 10 bars in total. For the strawberries, my parents and I decided to stop by Walmart. I found a shelf full of organic strawberries for under $3. I realized that Walmart has really good sales on Sunday nights because they will be receiving and restocking foods the next day.

Here's the proof:

That said, here are my 7 tips & habits I follow to save money buying organic:

Habits to Minimize Pesticide Residues in Food

While it is great to know what fruits and vegetables contain high concentrations of pesticides, it would also be sound to know how to safely prepare and handle food.

Below is a great checklist to keep in mind when shopping, handling and preparing food to further reduce your pesticide consumption.

Organic Shopping Guide Overview

If you were able to get through this entire blog post, I hope you learned that you can certainly buy organic on a budget and can definitely get away with not buying organic.

To sum up . . .

Review and save the Clean 15 & Dirty Dozen list in your phone
Try your best to purchase fruits & vegetables organic if they are on the Dirty 12 list
Review and save the 7 tips to Saving $$$ Buying Organic food
Commit to practicing and adhering to the checklist of Minimizing Pesticide Residues

References

Are Organic Foods really healthier? Two pediatricians break it down. UC Davis Health. (2019, April 5). Retrieved April 9, 2022, from https://health.ucdavis.edu/blog/good-food/are-organic-foods-really-healthier-two-pediatricians-break-it-down/2019/04

Book, M. (2019, May 28). Organic 101: Healthier by nature: CHFA. Healthier by Nature. Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://www.healthierbynature.ca/fundamentals/what-does-organic-really-mean-spoiler-more-than-you-think/

Environmental Protection Agency. (2021, March 14). Pesticides and Food: Healthy, Sensible Food Practices . EPA - United States Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved April 17, 2022, from https://www.epa.gov/safepestcontrol/pesticides-and-food-healthy-sensible-food-practices

Global Affairs Canada. (2022, March 21). Government of Canada. Retrieved April 9, 2022, from https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/us-eu/relations.aspx?lang=eng

Mohammed, H. (2018). Organic farming. Organic Farming - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics. Retrieved April 2, 2022, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/organic-farming

Robinson, L., Segal, R., & Segal, J. (2022, March 24). Organic Foods: What you need to know. HelpGuide.org. Retrieved April 9, 2022, from https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/organic-foods.htm

What is organic? Canada Organic Trade Association. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2022, from https://www.canada-organic.ca/en/what-we-do/organic-101/what-organic