What do/will you buy organic for LO?

[spaghetticat]

I try to do the dirty dozen and meat. I will do milk. But what about things like cheese, yogurt, etc? What will you do organic?

[The Foozzler]

I buy mostly organic for Tyler, not so much for me. When I buy jars and pouches, I only buy organic. Most of the fruits and veggies I feed him, the puffs, and yogurt melts have all been organic. Cheese has not been organic right now, but I will probably try to switch.

[TrudyCampbell]

So far, I've been doing everything organic. But we buy mainly organic for ourselves anyway.

[bebeetmoi]

As much as possible. But definitely her produce, dairy, and meat. The hormones in dairy and meat terrify me. I read an article way back in relation to young girls and their consumption of dairy and meat and it being linked to early onset of puberty. Scared the crap out of me.

[katie]

So far things like cheese, yogurt, fruits/veggies, puffs (although I also will give her Gerber that aren't). I will do organic milk for sure as that's what I buy anyways and most likely meat, but I usually buy a mix.

[laurack]

all of the things I buy specifically for her are organic. Because she now eats what we eat quite a bit of the time, I've started buying more organic stuff in general though the price horrifies me. I hate how much we spend on groceries. It used to be that meat was the big cost, but now trying to buy organic produce and dairy makes groceries so expensive even before we add meat to the mix. Grrr.

For meat, I don't buy organic usually but I do buy "naturally raised". I generally only buy meat from three places now: Trader joes (and only the stuff that says naturally raised or organic), whole foods (any of their meat as their base standard is ok with me for now), and local farm(s).

This year we plan to do a CSA with a local farm, and possibly a meat share also. Likely it won't be certified organic, but they do use organic practices in growing and the meat is from free range animals. It's expensive.

It's all so freakin expensive! My husband eats a large volume of food (he's a big man) and I eat alot also (I'm tiny but with a big appetite). Sooo I really don't see a way we can eat both cheaply AND organically/locally.

[laurack]

Also for some things like bananas the cost isn't much more it seems. 99c /lb for organic bananas isn't bad. But organic cheese is almost 2x the price.

[charlielove]

I buy organic fruits and veggies about 75% of the time, milk, eggs and some of DD1's snacks, all of DD2's snacks, sometimes cheese/yogurt depending on price, etc. I try to buy a lot of organic, but some things are just really pricey so I don't unless it's on sale. There are items that I do buy organic no matter what (like milk and eggs).

[carawestt]

We only do the dirty dozen, eggs and sometimes cheese and yogurt. We will also buy organic milk when he starts on it.

[kandrze1]

I buy organic fruit or vegetables I know are on the dirty dozen. Specifically I almost always buy organic carrots and apples. I buy organic yogurts and cheeses for her and will buy organic meat and milk when she is eating those items.

[monkeybabe]

Most of the stuff I buy her is organic, but not always. Her prepackaged snacks are always organic, fruit is always organic, meat. Sometimes her veggies aren't. She eats our cheese and that's not and same for eggs.

[kdrake8]

Jan 9, 2013 11:21:42 GMT -5 bebeetmoi said:

As much as possible. But definitely her produce, dairy, and meat. The hormones in dairy and meat terrify me. I read an article way back in relation to young girls and their consumption of dairy and meat and it being linked to early onset of puberty. Scared the crap out of me.

I believe I read this same article. We are buying all the organic purées and will switch over to all organic as she adds more to her diet.

[livinreality]

Right now we do organic baby food, I mostly organics with DS1 until 18 months and then financially could not swing it anymore... in my area only one store really regularly carriers a wide selection of organics and they are pretty expensive and really hard to incorporate into a single income.

[rjamz]

Jan 9, 2013 11:40:40 GMT -5 charlielove said:

I buy organic fruits and veggies about 75% of the time, milk, eggs and some of DD1's snacks, all of DD2's snacks, sometimes cheese/yogurt depending on price, etc. I try to buy a lot of organic, but some things are just really pricey so I don't unless it's on sale. There are items that I do buy organic no matter what (like milk and eggs).

This. For DS's food, I've saved quite a bit of money going to Whole Foods and buying their 365 brand frozen organic fruits and veggies. It's really a good deal.

[claralou]

Jan 9, 2013 11:19:40 GMT -5 TrudyCampbell said:

So far, I've been doing everything organic. But we buy mainly organic for ourselves anyway.

This.

[devonpow]

So far basically everything is organic - we do most of our shopping at Trader Joes and Whole Foods, so it is easy. The ones I care most about are milk, eggs, meat, and the dirty dozen fruit/veggies.

[rjamz]

Jan 9, 2013 12:25:48 GMT -5 @tambcat said:

Jan 9, 2013 11:19:40 GMT -5 TrudyCampbell said:

So far, I've been doing everything organic. But we buy mainly organic for ourselves anyway.

Same here.

I won't rule out the occasional non-organic item or meal once she starts eating normal table food, though.

The stuff we make at home that he eats is generally organic (but not always), but when we go out to restaurants and stuff and he has like toast and part of my omelet, I don't care if it's organic. Even though we live in NYC, it would still limit our restaurant choices significantly, and I'm not giving up my greasy diner food!

[rjamz]

Jan 9, 2013 12:28:15 GMT -5 @tambcat said:

Jan 9, 2013 11:21:42 GMT -5 bebeetmoi said:

As much as possible. But definitely her produce, dairy, and meat. The hormones in dairy and meat terrify me. I read an article way back in relation to young girls and their consumption of dairy and meat and it being linked to early onset of puberty. Scared the crap out of me.

Just FYI, a lot of conventional dairy is rbst-free, and the FDA does not allow use of growth hormones in poultry.

I'm also very very wary of the hormones in meat and dairy, so we try really hard to buy hormone free milk and stuff. I forget the brand, but the cows are hormone free and grass fed, but not certified organic (I think they use organic practices though) and it's cheaper than organic but a bit more than regular.

[thedahliharpa]

Everything for D is organic. All of our meats, produce, milk products are organic. Except onions, there never seem to be organic onions There are some staples in our house like canned refried beans (the organic are just not the same) and tortillas that are regular, although I try to get mote natural varieties from Trader Joes. H loooooves ketchup so we buy organic since we go through it so quickly. H and DH eat a lot of cereal and we buy organic when it is on sale but that is probably about 25% of their cereal. Our bread is usually not organic due to limited options being dairy/egg/soy free.

[laurack]

Jan 9, 2013 12:27:23 GMT -5 rjamz said:

when we go out to restaurants and stuff and he has like toast and part of my omelet, I don't care if it's organic.

oh yes if we are eating out I don't worry about it. Also, at daycare I suspect they aren't feeding her organic stuff. But I try not to worry about such things too much.

Most of the time what I buy and cook is organic/natural/high quality etc. so I feel that I do the best I can while still being a reasonable person/non food-nazi. I'm trying to have a balance where she eats quality food but isn't the weird kiddo whose mom sends her to a party with a package of homemade hemp cookies and a sprout sandwich, while everyone else eats pb&j and cake.

(I realize for allergy reasons sometimes people need to send their kids places with special food and obviously that's necessary)

[creamsiclechica]

I'm in Trudy's camp, we do everything organic for us and her (with a few exceptions). I did let her chew on a bagel and pizza crust in NY, because come on, man, you can't go to NY and NOT have those, organic or not. Haha.

My grocery bill for the three of us is OUT of control expensive, but we eat out less and it helps balance the budget some. I cook 6 days a week generally speaking.

[unclejesse]

This is what we give Andrew:
www.amazon.com/Earths-Best-Vegetable-4-0-Ounces-24-Count/dp/B0047CKHNM/ref=sr_1_3?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1357760489&sr=1-3&keywords=earth%27s+best

[fusion]

Almost all our stuff at home is organic, but I don't sweat eating out or snacks that they get at other people's houses.

[wildcatprincess]

Milk and red meat, I need to start doing strawberries and grapes at least, DD eats so many of those. I buy their cereals, crackers, snack bars in the natural section, but they're not necessarily organic. Just free of HFCS and other stuff like that. Chobani (which both my kids love) isn't organic, but is hormone free.

Also I find it weird potatoes was on the list, does peeling them not make them safe? Or do most people not peel them. We eat sweet potato for the most part, anyway, but I always thought the stuff you peeled was low on the contamination list.

[eav2c]

Milk, meat, anything like fruit snacks to avoid food coloring. Above all, I am super anti food coloring (ESP. Red dye).

[fusion]

Jan 9, 2013 14:58:22 GMT -5 wildcatprincess said:

Milk and red meat, I need to start doing strawberries and grapes at least, DD eats so many of those. I buy their cereals, crackers, snack bars in the natural section, but they're not necessarily organic. Just free of HFCS and other stuff like that. Chobani (which both my kids love) isn't organic, but is hormone free.

Also I find it weird potatoes was on the list, does peeling them not make them safe? Or do most people not peel them. We eat sweet potato for the most part, anyway, but I always thought the stuff you peeled was low on the contamination list.

I think because potatoes are grown under ground, and are also very prone to pests and rot, so they use more chemicals in general and all the chemicals seep in quite a bit more. Their skin is also really porous compared to something like a banana.

[fusion]

Jan 9, 2013 14:58:48 GMT -5 eav2c said:

Milk, meat, anything like fruit snacks to avoid food coloring. Above all, I am super anti food coloring (ESP. Red dye).

totally agree with this. I get a ton of organic snacks in bulk through subscribe and save on amazon. I toss a bunch of candy that Jameson gets through the year that contains dyes.

[erniebufflo]

I do all free-range and organic meat. Organic dairy. And I buy local or organic for as many veggies/fruits as I can find. It's pretty much already how we eat.

[spaghetticat]

Jan 9, 2013 14:58:22 GMT -5 wildcatprincess said:

Also I find it weird potatoes was on the list, does peeling them not make them safe? Or do most people not peel them. We eat sweet potato for the most part, anyway, but I always thought the stuff you peeled was low on the contamination list.

I think it is stuff with a hard peel that is low on the list. But I am pretty sure sweet potatoes are low.

Eav, thanks for the reminder about dye.

I don't live close to a Trader Joe's or WF but the reason I asked today was because I was in the area. They didn't have much organic cheese. What is the difference between organic and hormone free when it comes to dairy?