Hello lovely people. This week has been so much better to last week thankfully. I don’t feel as though I’m clawing myself to the weekend.
Last night (Thursday) I was able to go to running club as I could finish work at a reasonable time. I was umm-ing and arr-ing all day long about whether I did actually want to go. This is the problem I find with not running in the morning. I’m one of those people that when my alarm goes off I’m bang awake. So if I’ve planned to run and set my alarm stupidly early I pretty much need to go otherwise I’m up stupidly early for work. However, if I’m going to run in the evening I’ve got the entire day to compile a list of reasons why not to go.
But the sun was shining and, like I said, I could leave on time. I had no excuse. And I am so glad I went. I really wasn’t up for a 7.30min/mile hill run like the immensely tough run from the other week so I was really chuffed that the faster guys were planning on running 8mins/mile semi-road semi-trail run.
It was one of those runs where you could relax into it, power it at times, but otherwise just find a good rhythm and enjoy it (hence the crazy variation of pace!). The weather was beautiful, not too hot but still light and clear. I didn’t feel pushed to my limits, but just comfortable. A perfect run.
Again the only problem I had was I was buzzing all evening when I got home and when I went to bed I just couldn’t sleep until like 11pm. People, this is crazy for me.
On to an interesting subject that really got me thinking and sort of worried me a little bit. Madison did a great post about organic food and the “dirty dozen”.
The Dirty Dozen are the 12 foods that are really top of the list for the most pesticide-affected foods. Now usually I don’t really care about this sort of thing. I optimistically live in a wonderful world where things like pesticide can’t bother me.
However, for whatever reason it really struck a cord with me. I eat at least three apples a day. Just your bog-standard non-organic apples.
I hadn’t really thought about it before. But suddenly it seemed a bit concerning. Apples are apparently one of the worst!!
I did a bit more research into it myself to find out specifically about the UK. Here’s an interesting website which basically outlines the benefits of eating organically.
Essentially here are the main benefits in very general terms:
- Better animal welfare standards
- There are some foods which contain more vitamins and minerals (though there is some debate about this)
- Reduction in pesticides used
- Reduction in additives used
- No antibiotics used in animal rearing
- No hydrogenated fats
- No GM ingredients
- Support for the land and wildlife in terms of sustainability
It does worry me about the pesticides building up in my body. I’m not going to lie, I don’t know a huge amount of what this might do to you. But I am usually so careful about what I eat in terms of not wanting tons of sugar or salt and avoiding overly processed stuff (I don’t completely avoid it as where’s the fun in that??) that it seems I’ve become a bit blasé about other issues, such as chemicals sprayed on food or fed to animals.
But, as you’re probably aware, organic food tends to be more expensive unfortunately. Mainly because it’s not so quick to get out there in the shops with long shelf-life’s etc. than non-organic food is and there’s a whole load of regulations involved obviously.
We can’t afford the luxury of buying all organic so I’ve decided to pick a few things and try to stick to organic as much as possible. So apples obviously.
And also things like strawberries and other berries. Maybe I’ll try getting lettuce as well as I do eat a lot of salad…
Basically lots thoughts regarding this have been running through my head lately! Food for thought, you might say 
Do you buy organic? Why?
What particular things do you think are important in selecting the food you buy? For me it is general nutrition (sugar and salt levels) and quality of ingredients. But also price does play a part and if it’s from Britain or from miles away. I do worry about how far food has travelled.
On a lighter note, what have you got planned for this weekend?
At the moment I don’t tend to buy organic, but your post has made me think a little more like I should start considering it…
From the ‘Dirty Dozen’ I frequently buy apples, peppers, strawberries, lettuce, carrots and grapes. Nearly all of my meals include at least one item from this list. I do normally grow lettuces during the summer but I am going to try to stick as much as possible to home-grown fruit and veg this year, although obviously it won’t be possible for all my food. I will hopefully be able to eat my own carrots, cress, lettuces, potatoes, tomatoes, peas, blackberries and peppers this year though!
I would love if I could buy organic everything, but I simply can’t afford it! additionally my local supermarkets are quite small, and it is actually very rarely that I see organic produce their. If I see something organic on offer which is only a few pennies more, then I will opt for it. I’ve been trying to buy more organic meat as I am concerned about what they are fed, and antibiotics they are given, which in turn we ingest, but at the moment it is mostly as a treat, I just do waht I can!
I think that if you eat the skin raw then organic is better, although I don’t always buy organic as it is expensive. But things that are peeled (I never eat the onion peel) or things that get cooked I think are safer because the chemicals will be washed/ peeled off, or just cooked. Not sure if the cooking will kill the chemicals but it makes sense in my head!
That’s a good way to think about it in terms of the skin. I think it’s just a case of picking and choosing your battles. It’s just impossible to buy all organic. Maybe if I was a millionaire!!
Wow. This truly an awesome post. Thanks for sharing the word about organic!
That is a great list of benefits of why to buy organic. I need to copy and paste that somewhere for whenever somebody asks me. When I wrote the post on organic I was really only concerned with the produce side of it, but I try to buy meat that is all organic or at least free-range. I’m definitely going to do a post on that too as some people in the comments talked about that.
Hopefully buying organic apples won’t eat a hole in your pocket 😉 But I’m so glad to see that you’ve been thinking a lot about this!
Well it was your post that inpsired me to dig into some of the research, albeit a bit sparingly as there’s so much out there.
I actually don’t tend to buy organic at the stores, but I do my best to go to farmer’s markets to get my produce! We are just an apple loving family, and buying organic apples is not a cheap thing to do!! However, since they are the worst ones, I should probably make the switch over to organic…
I have always wondered about what the UK dirty dozen was and if it was any different from the US! I tend to try and always buy organic meat and dairy (apart from Total Greek yoghurt – but I actually spoke to them in connection to a blog feature and their cows don’t get the hormones like they do in other areas.) Although I have been getting freedom food chicken rather than organic for the cost. I try and get organic veggies when I can afford it, and apples are usually top of the list!
That’s good to know about Total Greek yogurt! Yeah it’s a tough call on picking and choosing what to buy organic. It just all adds up. But the quality is so much better.
Can you pleeeease teach me how to be bang awake when my alarm goes off in the morning? I drag myself out of bed every single day! Maybe it’s because I’m simply not getting enough sleep, but even on nights that I do, I’m tempted to hit snooze for a half hour. Gah! 😉
I’m a semi-organic buyer in that I usually opt for organic when the price difference isn’t outrageously painful. Fortunately, that’s the case at Whole Foods (most of the time), however occasionally a pint of organic berries will cost $2-$3 more than conventional ones, which is just too hard for me to justify. The one food I *always* buy organic, regardless of the price, is spinach. I go through several huge containers of it each week, and since it’s considered relatively “dirty,” I figure I’m doing my body a big favor. As for meat and milk, it just depends. Whenever I read an article (like this one) about the importance of eating organic, it re-ignites my passion for clean eating, and I usually become more aware…for a few weeks. 😉
The other factors that influence my food purchases include the presence or lack thereof of: added sugars, additives, trans fats, whole grains, and fiber.
I hope you had a wonderful weekend, Anna! Hugs xoxoxo
Uh oh. I also don’t typically buy organic, and eat probably an average of 3-4 apples per week. So not quite as much as you, but definitely still a staple in my diet. Eating organic is one of those things that I just kept ignoring and not looking further into and I figured what I didn’t know couldn’t hurt me. But after reading this…crap. I need to start being more careful!
It’s annoying really. I lived in such an ignorant bliss…I have to say though that the organic apples are quite tasty as well.
This is so interesting to me- I always try to buy the cheapest healthy option, which is not usually organic, like you said. Eating organic is important to me but not as important as the price I guess. Maybe I need a mind shift on this as well?? Keep us posted as to your thoughts on this!