I have always considered my staff and customers an extension of my family. After all, we spend so much time together, hard at work, debating what to cook, where to place the new table, and other day-to-day activities. So when I make decisions about what’s best, it’s always the same: organic and sustainable foods.

Environmental Concerns

When you buy organic, you help to promote biodiversity and cut down on the pesticides that pollute our soil, air, and water. You also support natural systems that will ensure the integrity of our farmlands for future generations—the best inheritance you can offer your children.

Biodiversity means growing a variety of crops to reduce the incidence of disease and increased dependence on pesticides and fungicides. Many giant corporate farms often take the easier, cheaper route and plant one variety, determined not by flavor or disease resistance but by the plant’s ability to travel long distances. This method often relies on higher pesticide use, which further damages our soil, our earth, and our health.

Just look at the dead areas in our waters where fish no longer thrive, due to high levels of nitrogen and pesticides that run off from conventional farms to our waterways. Isn’t that reason enough to lower our dependence on toxic chemicals by taking a more natural, organic approach to farming and gardening?

Kitchen Wisdom

Organically grown foods simply taste better, and they are often higher in nutrients than their conventionally grown counterparts. FoodNews, a publication from Environmental Working Group, adds: “There is growing concern in the scientific community regarding the subtle ways in which small doses of pesticides affect people, especially during critical periods of fetal development and childhood when they can have long-lasting adverse effects. Because the toxic effects of pesticides are worrisome, not well understood, or in some cases completely unstudied, shoppers would be wise to minimize exposure to pesticides whenever possible.”

Washing and peeling conventional produce will help reduce some of the pesticide residues, but it doesn’t eliminate them. Besides, removing the peel also removes some nutrients. The best advice is to eat a variety of produce, wash it well, and buy organic whenever possible. But when you don’t have the option of eating organic, try to select those foods that have lower pesticide levels.