Organic Foods & Culture: Let's Talk

Kira here! As your resident nutritionist (in-training) and I wanted to go into somethings about nutrition, my passion for it and some things I've been learning along the way.

Nutrition, health and food has always been a passion of mine- as a child, I was a little chubby and a lot unhealthy- as I've gotten older, I started to do my own research, finding out what it means to make nutrition a key factor in my life and thus, how to improve my relationship with food. Over time, I decided to learn in-depth from experts and get a certification (because why not?) and obviously, I wanted to share some information that I didn't know and some opinions on how culture can affect our views and practices involving food, health and nutrition.

I'm still in the midst of trying to figure out my eating habits; I think learning how to eat is actually a life-long dance that we never truly master. I am one of those people who proudly live to eat... I love food! But for so much of my life, I didn't realize that I can love food and eat the foods I love whilst simultaneously being healthy, fueling my body and having a great balance. One of the most prevalent things I've learned is that choosing organic foods is always better. And sure, we always hear that but I think the issue is that we always hear what we should do and not why it's beneficial for us: 

• There are so many toxins in our food! Currently in the U.S., over 400 pesticides are approved to go on our foods- this isn't including thousands of other pesticides that are tolerated in small amounts. These pesticides can lead to so many health issues i.e. central nervous system damage, disorders, irritation, increased risk for certain cancers, immune system issues, fertility problems and more! *See image below for the best/worst produce when it comes to pesticides

• Besides the pesticides that can cause so many adverse affects, we also have many hormones, antibiotics and chemical additives in so many of our foods. Currently, a major percentage of animals that we consume are injected with growth and sex hormones and there are over 2,000 "approved" additives that are used in our food.

• Organic food helps to limit so much of these things we are ingesting  every single day without even realizing it. 

  
  

All-in-all, I say all of this to bring me back to some common cultural outlooks on health, nutrition and organic foods. I come from a "brown" family and I grew up with meals centered around carbs, things that were easy to make or to pick up when the days were too busy or too tiring to cook and mostly there was this cultural idea that organic food equated to spending more money and therefore it was not necessary but now, being able to take my food choices into my own hands and educating myself, I always remind myself of the notion that I'd rather pay a little more money for some organic, humane food now then for medical bills later. And it may be a 'dramatic' way to think but what we ingest and where we literally get nutrients and fuel for our bodies from is super important. 

Of course this doesn't mean I won't pick up the non-organic food every time, it doesn't mean I won't indulge in sweet or categorized "unhealthy" foods but being a little more educated on 'why' certain choices are better allows me to make the right choices for me and I hope this post (and many more to come regarding health, food and nutrition) allows you to do the same. 

Any nutrition and food facts that you learned that made you change your ways? Or any cultural beliefs that you had to unlearn? Let me know! 

Elizabeth Rider has an updated list of the "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean 15" of what produce has the least/most amount of pesticides!