I’m honored to be a Stonyfield Ambassador this year, sharing knowledge, love and good food. Let’s talk about organic products!

Most Frequently Consumed Produce 

Ideally, I would buy all organic produce. However, since it can get pricey, I do what I can to make wise choices concerning organic products whenever possible for my family. Because of that, my husband and I have decided that the produce that we consume most frequently, we will almost always purchase organic. This is also the produce that is more likely to make the dirty dozen list. In our house, that means buying apples, lettuce, strawberries and carrots, just to name a few. On the other hand, produce like bananas and oranges, that we also eat quite a bit of, haven’t been known to hold pesticide residues like the typical dirty dozen, much of which is due to the fact that we don’t eat the rind or outer layer. Therefore, for those fruits and vegetables, I don’t seek out an organic label like I would the dirtier produce.

Another suggestion is to buy locally. I had no idea until I started asking questions that most of the farms near me never use pesticides. They just don’t pay to have the organic label put on their produce. It pays to ask questions and shop locally, too!

Dairy

I grew up with my animal loving mother teaching us all about compassion for animals. That being said, I really admire how the organic dairy farmers have higher standards when it comes to humanely treating the cows, not to mention that research has shown that organic milk has a nutritional advantage over conventional milk. That all being said, I purchase organic whole milk, organic whole milk yogurt and organic butter and feel great about it. Totally worth it. Stonyfield is a family favorite!

Meats

Again, the humanity of how the animals are being raised is a huge factor here. We don’t eat meat as often as my husband would like, but when we do, I always splurge for the organic, humanely raised and free of hormones. I aim to get protein in my family’s bellies with eggs, yogurt and beans.

Speaking of eggs, I also put the same emphasis on humane treatment of the chickens. Because of that we don’t necessary buy organic eggs, but rather choose the eggs from pasture raised chickens.

Processed Foods

Well, because who knows how many chemicals and processes processed foods go through, I aim to buy as many minimally processed foods as possible. Some of the processed foods I buy organic include fruit snacks (Annies or Stonyfield), cereal bars (Nature’s Path, Envirokids or Cascadian Farms) or baby snacks (Plum Organics Puffs or Happy Baby Teethers).

That all being said, we go out to restaurants who definitely don’t provide organic products, we eat Oreos on special occasions and buy non-organic produce (be sure to wash all produce, organic or not, well!). It’s all about balance and doing what you can. Do you have any favorite organic products or produce that you always buy organic?

This post was created in partnership with Stonyfield. All opinions are my own. Please read my disclosure policy for further information.