Is That Five-Dollar Tomato Worth It?
Organic products, once limited to specialty food stores, have become mainstream. With so many products now labeled as organic, and especially because of their higher prices, it’s important to know which ones are worth the extra cost. A New York Times article on 7/29 cited a Consumer Reports study (pdf) that helps shoppers make informed choices. The study recommends taking a pass on organic seafood, for example, which may be no freer of mercury or PCB’s than non-organic seafood. For guidance on which seafood is safe, the Times article recommended a web site run by the Monterey Aquarium Foundation .
The foods where it does pay to go organic, according to Consumer Reports, include: apples, bell peppers, celery, cherries, imported grapes, nectarines, peaches, pears, potatoes, red raspberries, spinach and strawberries—all of which tend to have high pesticide residue, even after washing. Also recommended are organic meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, and baby food.
Matt’s View
Standard money-saving advice is to eat out less often. However, with two-thirds of households now buying organics, which can cost twice as much as their non-organic equivalents, eating in is becoming less of a bargain. The six-page Consumer Reports study is worth reading in its entirety. It adds clarity to a food-buying experience cluttered with misleading health claims, and keeps us from paying for benefits that, in some cases, are more perception than reality.
This article filed in: Spending
Managing Money by The Book
- "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." - Matthew 7:24-25
Recommended Resources
- Money, Purpose, Joy - Discussion Guide
- If you want to take your relationship with money to a whole new level, bring the subject into your small group. It can be scary to open up about money, at least at first. But the "Money, Purpose, Joy Discussion...…Read the rest
View All »