To Buy or Not to Buy Organic: What You Need to Know to Choose the Healthiest, Safest, Most Earth-Friendly Food

By Cindy Burke

Book Overview

Food journalist and former professional chef Cindy Burke writes in the introduction to this book: "Organic food can be so expensive and difficult to find that I always wondered if I was spending my money wisely. I decided to become informed, really informed, about the options -- organic, conventional, local, sustainable -- so that I could choose the healthiest, safest food available." To Buy or Not to Buy Organic is the result of Burke's investigations. It tells you how to choose the healthiest, safest, most earth-friendly food, as you make your way through the supermarket, your local farmer's market, or your natural foods store. Highlights include: Making sense of the choices presented by organic, local, sustainable, minimally treated, grass-fed and cage-free foods Reducing your exposure to pesticides Save money by knowing the foods you want to eat only if they're organic and the foods that are pesticide-free even when they are nonorganic Protecting your child's health from pesticides An at-a-glance shopper's guide to more than 100 foods

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1569242682
• ISBN13: 9781569242681
• Release Date: March 2007
• Publisher: Balance
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.6" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Easy to Read!

This is an awesome book and answered just what I wanted answered. I was wanting to buy organic not just for my health, but also for the environment. But I know organic doesn't always equal environmentally friendly. And when do I buy local? If local foods aren't organic, should I get imported organic? This book talks about the environmental as well as health interplay in a really easy to read way. Its a quick read and has a very useful shopper's guide in the back. By far the best "organic buying" guide I've seen so far. Love it!

answers the question being asked...

Because I haven't been able to grow a garden of late, I'm forced to shop for most of my groceries. What I wanted to know is what I should buy or not buy. The author answers this perfectly and efficiently with a list in the latter part of the book, stating the produce in question, buy organic or not, and the reasons why. What surprised me was that she also talks about how FAR food frequently travels and the carbon cost as a result. Is it worth buying organic if it's traveled across the ocean? While I understood this before, her book has made scrutinize this aspect of my food purchases even harder than before. The book was an easy read but I admit to glossing over some of the talk about why you should eat organic or buy locally. What I wanted was precise information to help make my shopping more effective. I got exactly that.

The Best Source!

What a GREAT book! I learned so much from the author. She really did her homework and knows her stuff. This book inspired me to take the complete jump into organic living w/o fretting the grocery bill cost. She makes sense when she discusses this bill versus the health of your family and health costs. I don't even care anymore about the grocery bill because I know I'm making the most informed and healthy choices for my family. She has also inspired me to be more "green" and not just buy organic, but think about buying sustainable foods and at local farmer's markets. Never really grasped that concept and reasoning until now. Thanks so much!

Awesome!

This book answered all the questions I had about buying or not buying organic foods. I realized that I wasn't even sure what "organic" meant, and I certainly didn't know anything about the politics of organic farming. Ms Burke really knows her stuff and presents the facts clearly and well. (Of course, I would expect this from her, as I read a book that she co-authored entitled The Trans Fat Solution, which cleared up that whole transfat thing for me.) Particularly valuable is the chapter entitled "The Dirty Dozen" - the 12 foods to eat only if they're organic. Strawberries topped that list, and potatoes, especially russets, also showed up. This is balanced by "The Clean Fifteen," fruits and vegetables that consistently test negative for pesticide residue. Happily, avocados and blueberries show up on that list. Then there's The Shopping Guide - priceless! This book is a treasure trove of information, and a MUST READ for everyone who cares about making healthy food choices while keeping sustainable farming in mind. As I said - awesome!

Easily Disgestible and A Quick, Great Read

When I received this as a gift, I did not expect to read the entire book (ok, I admit - any of it) about organic foods in one sitting. However, Burke has written an extremely interesting and helpful guide on exactly what to buy organic (the dirty dozen), what not to buy (the clean fifteen), and why. She also enlightens us on the erosion of the "Organic" standards caused by government lobbying by powerful supermarket/food corporations (think, Nestle and Coca-Cola). Read this if you want to know whether its worth it (or even safe) to buy organics at your local supermarket, and if not, where to get them.