10 Foods You Should Buy Organic from How Stuff Works

Over at sister site How Stuff Works, Martha Barksdale does a terrific job of explaining what foods you should buy organic and what foods you need not bother. She explains the benefits:

By organic we mean foods that meet the standards set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Animals can't be given antibiotics or growth hormone. Farmers can't use

The article explains the issues around meat, milk (particularly relevant for Americans, since few countries in the rest of the world permit the use of bovine growth hormones), eggs, coffee, fruit, vegetables and more.

My only minor quibble with the piece is that it does not address the growing conflict between the "buy local" movement vs organics. This is a particularly significant issue out of the local growing season, where you might see a pepper flown all the way from Chile that is labelled organic, but has a serious carbon footprint from its transport. It is something we should consider in our choices.

Read it all at How Stuff Works.