Just recently made the switch to organic food myself. Started putting coconut oil in my protein shakes. It seems that this eating plan is best suited for those that are fast oxidizers. Keep an eye out for the organic label on foods at the store as well. Nice post Vince, thanks again. Mike CriticalBench.com

I eat organically mainly to keep pesticides out of my body.
I do not find that it costs more. The orgainic food seems to be bigger eg apples
I could probably eat organically for about $7 a day.
I include a variety of nuts, vegies and fruit, and rice milk.
I don’t eat meat, eggs or dairy.
My health has improved.

Time and again I have noticed that “local farmer’s markets” is always suggested as an option to look for Organic foods. What is preventing the local farmer from using pesticides? Or am I missing something?

I couldn’t agree more about the need to avoid so called “conventionally” farmed foods. “Conventional” is a misleading term, since radical chemical intervention in farming is less than 100 years old, while organic farming was the only type of farming for many centuries. It seems to me, that establishes a much stronger “convention” than the crazy chemical method that’s been literally shoved down our throats (for obscene profits, and at the peril of our entire food supply) in the short time it’s been around.

Like Ernie, I’m a vegetarian, and feel great on my delicious, varied and natural diet. Often it does cost more. As you said Vince, that is more than compensated by just cutting non-foods, and non-whole foods from your diet. I feel like crap when I don’t eat much fresh or whole food for a few days. If I don’t get at least some salad for a few days, I’m jonesin like other people jones for their big Mac drug-burgers.

It can be a challenge to change your diet, but don’t despair; you’ll start craving healthy stuff and being revolted by unhealthy, fake foods, once you’ve been eating whole foods for a while. If you have trouble with the transition, get a Tony Robbins book and try his exercise for changing how you feel about the food. His techniques work, and you’ll immediately find yourself craving what’s good for you, and being revolted by what’s not.

PS: if you’re worried about money, cook more. Any diet costs more and is less vital and healthy, if you buy prepared foods. Hire yourself for the job of preparing it, and buy lots of dry beans, brown rice, and fresh veggis. It’s not that much work if you plan a bit. For example, most beans have to soak overnight, and then take an hour or more to cook the next day. It only takes a few seconds to put the beans in a bowl to soak, and a few minutes to rinse them, put them in a pot with some water, and turn on the burner. Then just set a timer, walk away and do something else until they’re ready. They are soooo much tastier than canned, you’ll wonder how you ever lived that way!

im not sure what country everyone else lives in, but i live in Australia and i try to eat organic. the problems are the cost is alot! higher and over here organic is such a specialty that for me to buy organic meat i have to drive 45-60mins away and then spend twice as much as normal, apples are nearly impossible to find organic coles has started selling them but theyre always cold storage soft sh*t tasting probably because theyre so old. for me to eat everything organic is close to impossible, im at uni and work, i dont go out i dont spend money on anything other than food and fuel and i still would not come close to being able to afford to eat organic, but i do still try to as often as i can.

I actually grow my own stuff in the summer months and eat as much as I can while the gettin’s good. In the winter months I eat conventionally grown produce ,fruits and frozen as well. As far as the meats go, it’s conventional too, buying grass fed is actually more expensive than the produce itself. Most places on the internet that let you buy, make you spend a certain amount of money, and increments of weight which can get very very expensive. When I buy meat at the store, they typically sell it buy the pound, but on the internet some of them sell it in ounces, now that’s a ripoff. I at times actually question the honesty of the organic farmers, since I grow my own stuff I can taste a big difference between mine and theirs’. Well, I do the best I can as does everyone else, it’s a big step from where I started so I know I’m doing something right and anyways, isn’t it better to eat fresh produce organic or not as opposed to fries and sweets?

“Organic food means the food or product has been grown the way mother nature intended: without the use of chemicals, pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. In other words, naturally!”

Vince! I just want to let you and your trainees know that the word “Organic” is defined by the government and Organic food is not required to be grown naturally! In order to qualify as ‘Organic’ food must be grown to a set of standards defined by the government, which aren’t what you might think. To learn more about ‘organic’ means in modern times compared to the idea and essence of the original Organic Food movement in the 70’s and 80’s (which is now being rechampioned by farmers such as those at Polyface Farms owned by Joel Salatin in the “Beyond Organic” movement) read the very excellent and informative book “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollan, which inpsired the recently released movie “Food INC.”

If you want a real eye opener watch the movie”Food,Inc”.

Yes, it is tough to eat organically in this chemical world we live in and even harder to stay in a pH balanced state. Becoming acidic is another VERY dangerous state to be in. Due to the chemicals in our foods and most beverages, it creates an acidic environment in our bodies causing all kinds of issues, but mainly cancers. It is another reason to drink filtered water and all organic foods!

@Thanks for valuable input : )Jesse -

Great post, Vince. Eating organic food not only good for our health it is good for the whole planet. No chemicals, pesticides and other poisons will get into the water, air and plants. Going organic is the best way for all of us.

Hey Vince, great post! As an organic certifier, and also as a father of four, I try to obtain as much organic food as I can. I even grew tomatoes, onions and swisschards in my backyard in Paraguay, and it was the first time my children ate veggies with gusto. Conventional food tastes like crap!

Do you know you can grow your own vegs in small pots? On your windows, in your terrace… anywhere! Just head to the local store and get some organic sustrate, seeds, get a good book to calendarize your stuff… and start eating your way to full health!

Isabel De Los:
Growing up with an agricultural background and having many friend that are farmers, I take offense with the comment that farmers use pesticides to compensate for poor farming practices. North American (and other countries)Farmers use these products to produce the food supply that feeds the world, not just the wealthy North Americans. Without these products farmers would not be able to grow the quality or the yields required to supply the third world countries with affordable food. Another reason farmers use pesticides is because the general public wants their food to look like it does on t.v. They want the perfectly round orange with no blemishes on it, the beautiful apple with no worm holes or bird damage to it, etc, but they don’t want to pay for it. Ask a farmer you know what he gets paid for a bushel of wheat, which will produce approx. 73 1lb loaves of bread. It definitely isn’t 73x what you paid for that loaf at the grocery store. This is impossible to do on a large scale without the use of pesticides or synthetic fertilizers. Finally most of the farmers I know are some of the most responsible people on the planet when it comes to protecting and taking care of the land they farm. Who wouldn’t be when the land is what provides them with their income? Farmers are responsible stewards of the land that use the available resources to provide a living for their families, just as anyone does with a home business. I have no problem with someone who wishes to eat organically and has the financial means, and the will power to do it, but please don’t belittle the people that work hard to feed the world, there are millions of people that rely on them.