Organic Foods and Kids

Organic Foods and Kids.

Organic food is something I am very passioante about. It is why I started growing food at home after my daughter Lily was born and adapted many creative techniques to growing vegies at home even if you are renting-like me.
There are so many ways to get growing some fresh organic ingredients at home and it's so worth it!

While there are varying opinions as to the nutritious benefits of organic versus not organic fruits and vegetables one thing is usually strong in parents hearts, we want the best for our children.
That includes for many parents now, reducing the exposure to chemicals in our children’s lives.
Why organic though?
Research has shown that overexposure of chemical’s can have side effects in people and children in particular, effect health and even according to some experts mood.
Some also argue that organic is far more flavoursome and even cooks better making it more likely that kids will eat it. Something all parents want
The trouble is organic is not in everyone’s budget. With crops being more labour intensive and produce usually coming from smaller producers the prices are usually higher than there non organic alternatives.
So what’s a parent to do?
Grow some organics. One of the best things you can do is start a small backyard patch as a family and grow some organic vegies at home or in something like an EzyGrow container system if you live in a unit or flat. You know exactly what has gone onto and into those veggies, plus children love to eat vegies they themselves helped to grow and pick.
Buy from farmers markets and roadside stalls.Here on the Sunshine Coast we have fantastic fresh produce markets, many with beautiful organic produce well worth exploring on weekends.
Buy the organic versions that matter most. When at the supermarket pick and choose which organics to buy as your budget allows. Some vegetables are more prone to high chemical residue than others so when we can’t afford to buy all organic we can at least try and buy the organic versions of the vegies most likely to carry strong levels of chemicals and buy the non organic versions of varieties that fair a lot better.
For example Apples, Spinach and Celery all had high traces where as Corn, Pineapples and Avocado’s didn’t.
Visit http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary/ for the 2011 EWG Shoppers Guide to pesticides in produce.

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