Healthy Mama Magazine Issue 1 - July 2014 | Page 34
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TIGHT BUDGET? Prioritize...
Providing an organic diet for your family is obviously the best health option
and is relatively easy as there are now many organic stores that stock a wide
variety of products. Some fruit and vegetable shops, health food stores and
supermarkets have organic ranges and they may also carry selections
of organic baby foods. These days many organic produce items are
competitively priced so its worth doing some price comparisons in your
local stores and supermarkets. If there are times when you are unable to
purchase organic items, please bear in mind the following suggestions:
CONSIDER BULK
You can reduce the cost of organic purchases by buying fruit and vegetables in bulk. You may be
able to buy a box of apples or zucchini, then cook and freeze what you cannot immediately use. Even
frozen organic is a darn sight healthier for your children than the chemically-laden ‘fresh’ supermarket produce. Alternatively, you can combine efforts with friends, neighbors or other families to buy
common items in bulk to be shared.
FRUIT AND VEGETABLE WASHES
When you are unable to buy organic produce, the next best alternative is to wash commercial
produce with a specific ‘fruit and vegetable wash’ and then rub them down with a ‘fruit and veg
cloth’. These washes and cloths remove a large percentage of the chemical residue that lies on
the surface of the fruit and are available in most health food stores and online.
Heavily waxed fruits such as apples need a fruit and veg cloth which physically removes excess
polishes. Enjo make a great cleaning cloth specifically for this task.
KNOW YOUR FRUIT AND VEG
If you have to buy commercial produce, try only to buy those with lower
levels of pesticides. See the Environmental Working Group’s pesticide
guide. This ranking was developed by analysts based on the results of
nearly 43,000 tests for pesticides on produce collected by the US
Department of Agriculture and the US Food and Drug Administration
between 2000 and 2005.
Environmental Working Group (EWG) has created a
useful guide on pesticide levels in commercially grown produce.
http:/
/www.ewg.org/foodnews/
You can also download this chart directly from the
Environmental Working Group website
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