Pesticides are widely used in producing food. These pesticides may remain in small amounts (called residues) in or on fruits, vegetables, grains, and other foods. To ensure the safety of the food supply, EPA regulates the amount of each pesticide that may remain in and on foods.

So it is clear that it is acceptable for our foods to have a certain level of pesticide residue that is considered safe. This is of course one reason for the rise in popularity of organic produce. It is certainly unlikely that government agencies would advocate the consumption of unsafe foods. But if we have the choice of eating an organically grown apple vs. a conventionally grown apple with a safe level of pesticide residue, all things being equal, I am pretty sure that most of us would choose to eat the organic apple. This opinion is backed up by a report from the Environmental Working Group:

The growing consensus among scientists is that small doses of pesticides and other chemicals can cause lasting damage to human health, especially during fetal development and early childhood.Scientists now know enough about the long-term consequences of ingesting these powerful chemicals to advise that we minimize our consumption of pesticides.

They provide some pretty useful information about the fruits and vegetables that are best bought organically as well as a list of those where the conventional varieties are low in pesticide residue. They are not saying to buy all our produce organically. But rather to buy smart. The separated certain fruits and vegetables into a dirty dozen and clean fifteen.

The dirty dozen, which we should endeavour to purchase organically when possible include:

1. Celery
2. Peaches
3. Strawberries
4. Apples
5. Domestic blueberries
6. Nectarines
7. Sweet bell peppers
8. Spinach, kale and collard greens
9. Cherries
10. Potatoes
11. Imported grapes
12. Lettuce

The Clean Fifteen are:

1. Onions
2. Avocados
3. Sweet corn
4. Pineapples
5. Mango
6. Sweet peas
7. Asparagus
8. Kiwi fruit
9. Cabbage
10. Eggplant
11. Cantaloupe
12. Watermelon
13. Grapefruit
14. Sweet potatoes
15. Sweet onions

The beauty of these lists is that it helps us to know which produce it is worth spending a bit more on to get the organic varieties as well as which conventional fruits and vegetables we can purchase safely.

Great Tasting Organic Juices

Eating lots of fruit and veg gives us nutrients and fiber. Another thing that we can do is to make juices. When we do this, the liquid is extracted from the fibrous pulp. In effect, we can get the vitamins and minerals from a greater quantity of fruit and vegetables but without the fiber. It is obviously important to have fiber in our diet so only drinking juice might not be the best idea. However, the huge benefit from drinking juices is that the sheer quantity of nutrients that we get is increased.

There are tons of different organic recipes that are worth trying to make at home. Some of them are really simple with just one or two ingredients while others contain a greater variety. The best thing that you can do is to experiment to find out which juices you like the best. Sometimes it is the simplest ones that can taste the best. Just think about the mouth watering flavor of a few freshly squeezed oranges.

Of course, if you want the most potent mineral content, then you might want to think about making a green juice. This sort of drink not only contains greens but can have all sorts of other ingredients in there too. Greens, with their chlorophyll content tend to take over the color of the drink and make it look green. Spinach and kale are two of the most nutritious vegetables to add to your drink.

Juicer Reviews

Now a days there are a number of different makes and models of juicers that you can purchase. Spending time reading juicer reviews will help you to make the best purchasing decision for your juicing requirements. The thing is, for some people, the speed and convenience of centrifugal juicers makes a machine like the Breville BJE510XL the right choice.

Omega VRT350HD Juicer

Then again, if you only want to make freshly squeezed orange juice then a specialist citrus press or citrus juicer is not only designed specifically for the job, this type of unit is also fairly low in price too. For those of you who want to get more into green juices then the best type of device would be a masticating juicer. The Omega VRT350HD makes a great all round choice that can juice a whole range of produce but also does it quickly.

When choosing a juicer, it is important to think about what sorts of produce you want to juice as well as how much you can afford to spend. The important point to take away is that the more fruit and vegetables we can have each day, the better. When we have the chance to eat (or drink) the organic alternative, so much the better.

Buy Lavender · Buy Tea Tree

More and more women these days are becoming interested in natural beauty products. Of course, many of them are not exclusively for women. For instance, rather than waxing for hair removal, there is an organic alternative which many people now prefer.

Moom Organic Hair Removal Kit

This product comes in different flavors, Lavender, Rose and Tea Tree. You might have to try them all before you find your favorite. The Tea Tree variety is popular due to its antiseptic properties. Moom works in a similar way to wax although the organic formulation is actually beneficial for your skin. All that you have to do is spread on some Moom in the direction of hair growth. Then place one of the washable and reusable fabric strips on top. Push and rub hard and then rip the strip off again pulling in the direction against the hair growth. After using Moom, your skin should feel softer and healthier. Even though it is a very effective hair remover, it is surprisingly gentle on the skin.

If you want a cheap Moom Organic Hair Removal Kit then have a look on Amazon, because of the volume that they sell, they are often able to offer a discount compared to other vendors.

Purchase Tart Is Smart Tart Cherry Concentrate Now

I personally prefer to make my own fruit and vegetable drinks fresh each day rather than buying ready made juices. However, there are times when the benefits of a ready made drink outweigh the disadvantages, for me. Cherry juice in particular is one of these. I love eating cherries and juicing seems almost wasteful not only that, the hassle of having to de-stone each individual cherry before adding them to the juicer as well as the quantities of cherries required makes purchasing a ready made cherry juice concentrate such as Tart Is Smart a good idea. Not only is this the easy option, it is also certified organic.

If you prefer to make your own then a masticating juicer might be the best option to help you squeeze out the highest amount of juice. The Omega VRT350HD or Omega J8006 are two of the best models that you could use. Of course, one way to save on waste would be to use a top quality blender such as a Vitamix 5200. This liquefies the produce that you add. In the case of cherries it turns them into a smooth, tasty and nutritious drink.

Whether or not you use a concentrate like the cheap Tart Is Smart drink, or make your own, there are quite a few recipes that you can enjoy involving cherry juice. Simply adding some water or ice makes a nice refreshing cherry drink. Adding carbonated water produces a nice Cherry Fizz. As far as mixing cherries with other fruits goes, orange and cherry works surprisingly well.

There is much more than just cherry drinks too. You can enjoy a load of other recipes including cherry sauces in sandwiches and frozen desserts.

Treat Yourself to some Organic Shampoo Today

There is a huge range of cheap organic shampoos to choose from today. But do these products clean our hair as well as traditional shampoos? The best way to find out is to try them for yourself. Many of the shampoos on sale are not 100% organic. But this does not mean that they aren’t useful. For instance, a little bit of exercise is better than none. In the same way, some organic ingredients in our shampoo might be better for us than none.

Avalon Organics is a popular brand. They make a host of different flavors. Their Tea Tree Scalp Treatment Shampoo contains organic tea tree essential Oil, beta-glucan, organic aloe and vitamins. This product is certified as containing 70% organic ingredients. Another of their popular lines is the Awapuhi Mango Moisturizing Shampoo. It contains awapuhi which is derived from Hawaiian wild ginger. Awapuhi softens and adds shine to hair while the mango provides a lush moisturizing effect and promotes cell rejuvenation for damaged hair. You can find many of their products in stores near you. Check out Amazon for some of the best prices on Avalon Organics.

Organic food refers to food produced without using the conventional inputs of modern, industrial agriculture: pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, genetically modifed organisms (GMOs), irradiation or food additives. It is marketed as being healthy for the body and the environment, It is also portrayed as being natural, implying a connection between the human body and Nature as inherently pure, complete, clean, and friendly. Organic production, in this vein, resists a human-made system of production that suffers from pollution as a result of attempts by human intervention to manage and manipulate Nature.

There are a number of great articles already on the web discussing what organic food is and isn’t. I will be providing links to ones that I have found interesting myself below.

My own personal opinion is that being “organic” is not what determines if food is good or bad. Rather it is whether it has been grown or reared, with care. There is plenty of good organic food as well as good normal food. Respectively, there are bad versions of both that we can buy too. The problem we face is determining the good from the bad. Many people use the organic label to determine what is good (or healthy). However I think that the issue is deeper than this. Due to the higher price of organic products, this can attract farmers and food producers who are just in it for the money. Most people buying organic produce though like to think that they are highly health and environment conscious. The only problem is that not all the producers of organic foods share this understanding.

To find out more about the legal requirements of organic food, check out the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990^[2].

Paying more for top quality food is reasonable. Ideally I would like to be eating local, “organic” food, grown by people I actually know. In this case, whether the food was certified as organic or not would be of much less concern. I would be personally much more aware about how my food was produced. It seems that the “organic” label has become so popular simply because the sort of ideal scenario is not a reality for the vast majority of us.

A lot of the information on organic foods seems to be written by people who are either for or against it. I am mildly for it. However, I do think that there are serious shortcomings with the system at present. There are issues of trust and also questions that we have to ask ourselves. For instance, is it better to eat organic food that has been flown half way across the world or conventional foods grown much closer to where we home.

Pick Your Own^[3] offers a great introduction to what organic means to you and your family.

Stephen Barrett, M.D. at Nutriwatch^[4] argues:

if you want to pay extra for your food, the U.S. Government will help you do so. Violators of the rules can be fined up to $10,000 per violation. But organic “certification,” no matter what the rules, will not protect consumers. Foods certified as “organic” will neither be safer nor more nutritious than “regular” foods. They will just cost more and may lessen public confidence in the safety of “ordinary” foods. Instead of legitimizing health nonsense, our government should do more to attack its spread.

I think it is important for those of us with an interest in health and well being to take an active role in our own education. Then make up our own minds about the pros and cons of organic food.

[1] http://books.google.com/books?id=gNzmOUyiFRAC&pg=PA288#v=onepage&q&f=false

[2] http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5060370&acct=nopgeninfo

[3] http://www.pickyourown.org/organic.htm

[4] http://www.nutriwatch.org/04Foods/organic.html