Five Ways to Turn Into Organic’s

Dr. Alan Greene in his new books “ Raising Baby Green “,has identified a few “strategic” organic foods that he says can make the biggest impact on the family diet

1. Milk: “When you choose a glass of conventional milk, you are buying into a whole     chemical system of agriculture,’’ says Dr. Greene. People who switch to organic milk     typically do so because they are concerned about the antibiotics, artificial hormones and     pesticides used in the commercial dairy industry.
2. Potatoes: Potatoes are a staple of the American diet — one survey found they account     for 30 percent of our overall vegetable consumption. A simple switch to organic     potatoes has the potential to have a big impact because commercially-farmed potatoes     are some of the most pesticide-contaminated vegetables.
3. Peanut butter: More acres are devoted to growing peanuts than any other fruits,     vegetable or nut, according to the U.S.D.A. More than 99 percent of peanut farms use     conventional farming practices, including the use of fungicide to treat mold, a common     problem in peanut crops.
4. Ketchup: For some families, ketchup accounts for a large part of the household     vegetable intake. About 75 percent of tomato consumption is in the form of processed      tomatoes, including juice, tomato paste and ketchup. Notably, recent research has      shown organic ketchup has about double the antioxidants of conventional ketchup.
5. Apples: Apples are the second most commonly eaten fresh fruit, after bananas, and      they are also used in the second most popular juice, after oranges, according to Dr.      Greene. But apples are also one of the most pesticide-contaminated fruits and      vegetables. The good news is that organic apples are easy to find in regular grocery       stores.