The benefits of eating organic foods are now quite well known. Eating organic food supports gut health and can provide a higher level of nutrition including vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, reducing oxidative stress and inflammation in the body.
Eating organic food reduces our exposure to harmful agricultural chemicals including pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. These chemicals can contaminate land and waterways, and bioaccumulate in our bodies, contributing to disease. Babies, children, pregnant women, older adults, people with compromised health, farm workers and residents of agricultural areas are most susceptible to agricultural chemical bioaccumulation.
While it might be near impossible to go completely organic all of the time, the good news is, incorporating more organic foods into your diet can be simple and affordable.
Starting small by swapping daily essentials can be a good place to start. For instance, if you eat bread or drink milk daily try switching to an organic option.
Another general guide to minimise chemical exposure is to prioritise organic for foods with edible skins (such as apples, grapes, berries, celery, capsicum, cucumber and leafy greens and herbs); and when buying non-organic produce, choose foods that need to be peeled (such as sweet corn, onion, avocado, mango, papaya, melons, and citrus).
When buying organic, choose local, seasonal fruit and vegetables to ensure you are getting the best price and maximum nutrition. Buying locally-grown food also reduces food miles and supports our organic and regenerative growers caring for the land and protecting biodiversity.
To check whether produce is certified organic, look for an official logo or ask for verification at the farmers’ markets or independent grocer. If you don’t want to do the hard work checking, shop at Santos Organics where 100% of the fresh produce is certified organic and the vast majority of shelf and fridge products are either certified organic or contain certified organic ingredients.
Enjoy your organic journey (one apple at a time!), knowing that each additional food you chose to be organic may be one small change, but with significant positive impact on your personal health and on the health of the planet.
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