Organic vs Conventional: How to Get More Bang For Your Buck

"Organic" might just be one of the biggest buzzwords in the food industry right now. But what does it actually mean for food to be organic? We realize it can be overwhelming and confusing when trying to figure out what organic food really is and if you should be buying it. The short answer is, as always: it depends!

The reality of it is, organic is almost always going to be more expensive than conventional, even if it's by just a few cents. But we believe that when you buy and consume organic foods, the long term health & environmental benefits far outweigh the extra expense. In other words, you get more bang for your buck in more ways than one.

Realizing that organic foods tend to be more expensive, start out with setting aside just 10% of your grocery budget for the purchase of organic and locally sourced foods. - Ben Glassen, Glassen Farms Vancouver B.C.

With that being said, it's important to know when a food item is truly organic, and when it's not, as well as when it's necessary to pick the organic option. We've broken all of this down for you in this post to make it much easier to make informed purchasing decisions for your health & overall wellness.

What does "organic" really mean?

The term "organic" is regulated and defined by the USDA under a specific set of guidelines that farmers have to follow in order for their food products to be certifiably organic. These guidelines differ depending on what type of food is being considered.

According to the USDA, fresh produce can be called organic if it’s certified to have grown on soil that had no prohibited substances applied for three years prior to harvest. So what constitutes a prohibited substance? In this case, the term "prohibited substance" includes most, but not all, synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides, as well as genetically modified organisms.

Meat can be certified as organic if the animal is raised in living conditions accommodating their natural behavior (like the ability to graze on pasture), fed 100% organic feed and forage, and not administered antibiotics or hormones.

When it comes to processed/packaged foods that contain more than one ingredient, it depends on what percentage of the ingredients themselves are certified organic.

Unfortunately, though, it's not as simple as just seeing the word "organic" on a food label and calling it good. It's actually not even as simple as seeing the USDA Organic Seal (the little green & white symbol) on a product and calling it good. Labeling laws are much more complex than this, but we've broken it down using apple juice as an example to make it a bit easier to understand.

• 100% Organic Apple Juice = made with 100% organic ingredients and can have the USDA Organic Seal

• Organic Apple Juice = made with at least 95% organic ingredients and can have the USDA Organic Seal

• Apple Juice Made with Organic Ingredients = made with at least 70% organic ingredients. You might also see this labeled as "fruit juice made with oranges, organic apples, and pineapple" if only one of the key ingredients (apples) is organic.

In other words, the ONLY time where your food is 100% organic is if you see "100% organic" written on the label.

So Are There Any foods That are OK to Buy Conventionally?

Every year, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) releases two lists: the dirty dozen and the clean fifteen, to update consumers on which produce items should be bought organically, and which are ok to eat conventionally. They're also helpful for deciding where you have a bit of wiggle room to save some money! The lists are primarily determined by which fruits and vegetables were found to have the highest and lowest traces of pesticides used in commercial farming. Here's what made the 2020 lists!

Cost Comparison

We asked our followers what food/beverage items they buy the most often and came up with a list of the 10 most mentioned items, as well as 4 extras that we thought were good picks. We took this list to our local grocery store and found both an organic & conventional version, and recorded the prices to see how much more expensive it is to buy organically.

Green = part of the clean fifteen

Red = part of the dirty dozen

**We found two bottles of wine of the same variety from the same region, but this comparison may not always be consistent due to various drivers of wine prices. Oh and also: beware that grapes are on the dirty dozen list!**

Surprise surprise! Organic was more expensive: by $10.72. In other words, the organic grocery list was about 12% more expensive than the conventional. So is there any bang for your buck when you choose to spend a little more on organic foods? We think so!

4 Reasons To Opt for Organic

1. Organic food can reduce the amount of chemicals in our bodies. 

By choosing organic foods you can reduce the amount of chemicals you're putting in your body… didn't know you had purchased a side of herbicide with your apple did ya? Although certain types of approved pesticides can be used on organic farms, they are often natural substances. Organic produce is grown using natural fertilizers compared to conventional farms that use, you guessed it, synthetic. In a 2018 JAMA publication, a French study showed that a significant reduction in the risk of cancer was observed among high consumers of organic food.

2. Organic food can lead to more nutritious or vitamin-enriched fruits and vegetables.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away... but does it need to be organic? Well, research says yea, organic might be better after all. Plants pull out whatever the soil has to offer. Conventional farms offer a cornucopia of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and so on. However, an organic farm, free of synthetic chemicals, is able to extract healthy minerals and nutrients from the ground, leading to a more vitamin-rich product.  In a 2017 study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, researchers found that organic onions had about a 20% higher antioxidant content than non-organic onions. 

3. Organic dairy and meat can be healthier than non-organic varieties.

Organic meat, dairy, and eggs are all raised without the use of hormones, whereas, conventionally raised animals are typically given hormones to produce faster growth. Additionally, organically raised animals are not given antibiotics or GMO-feed. The use of an antibiotic can create antibiotic-resistant strains of bacterias...remember mad cow disease? Typically, organically raised animals have greater access to the great outdoors which helps to keep them healthy. This access to the outdoors not only reduces their overall stress levels, but they also eat fewer grains and graze more frequently, positively impacting their nutritional profile. The end result for the consumer is a product higher in key nutrients and omega -3 fatty acid content.  

4. Organic food might be better for the environment.

In addition to being a healthier choice for your body, organic food is also arguably better for the environment. Instead of employing synthetic chemicals like pesticides herbicides & fertilizers to support the soil (which run off into our water systems) organic farms often use a time tested technique of crop rotation or other mechanical methods of pest and weed control.

Let's look at water run-off real quick: nitrogen and phosphorus found in agricultural fertilizers cause algae to grow faster than aquatic ecosystems can handle, decreasing the oxygen that fish and marine life need to survive and causing “dead zones.”

Due in large part to runoff from industrial Midwestern farms, the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico now spans more than 8,700 square miles.

Healthy soil stores carbon, and how much carbon can be stored is determined by the type of soil. The more biodiverse the soil, the more sequestration can occur. The more carbon in our soil the greater the impaction on climate change.

The driving force behind the decline, globally, in bee populations is industrial agriculture. Organic farmers omit synthetics, like neonicotinoid and glyphosate, & by doing so they are helping the pollinators. According to the Earthwatch Institute, an international conservation nonprofit, bees are the most important species in the world. They fertilize around one-third of the food we eat and 80% of flowering plants.

And an added bonus: farmworkers and local communities are less exposed to these known toxins, which leads to a reduction in neurological diseases, and cancer YAY!

So the next time you are making your grocery list consider the benefits...not just to yourself, but the larger benefit of adding organics to that list. As farmer Ben Glassen said, "start out with setting aside just 10% of your grocery budget for the purchase of organic and locally sourced foods."