Do you feed your kids organic food?

[thiswillbe]

2bride's response on Two's poll got me wondering: Do you feed your kids organic food? Do you prioritize what you buy organic?

I'm pretty sure this has been asked before, but clearly I wasn't paying attention.

[ct]

They eat some organic and some not organic.

I basically do a cost/benefit analysis on each thing every trip out to the store. We are exclusive to organic cow's milk and try to stay organic on meats and the dirty dozen, but it all depends on prices and my food budget that week. I also value local over organic.

[hensmum]

Yes. I am very strict about what Henry eats.

Sure, there are exceptions - even Annie's Organic mac & cheese with the pack of mushyyummy fake cheese is clearly not very wholesome haha. And we certainly do some sweets like ice cream. When we go out for breakfast we have bacon that comes from god-knows-where. I don't scrutinize what we are served when we visit friends/family. But for the most part, I buy organic. Produce - always (except for bananas, oranges, watermelons - stuff with thick skins). I try to do my best with our meat purchases, though I know I could do better if budget allowed. Milk and yogurt - always organic.

I just feel like he has his whole life ahead of him to potentially load up on pesticides and other icky stuff. While I have (nearly) full control, I want to do my best to give him the best.

[hlke]

Sept 21, 2012 12:32:20 GMT -5 ct said:

They eat some organic and some not organic.

I basically do a cost/benefit analysis on each thing every trip out to the store. We are exclusive to organic cow's milk and try to stay organic on meats and the dirty dozen, but it all depends on prices and my food budget that week. I also value local over organic.

This is exactly our approach pre-kids, and I think it will stay that way once we have kids. In particular I worry about things I eat A LOT of, like apples, spinach, and lettuce. I try to do only pastured-raised or grass-fed meat. We make up some of the budget difference by eating less meat and cooking from scratch as much as possible.

[cymru]

Nope. To be honest I really don't worry about it all that much. My kid is happy, very healthy and well fed. I don't give her a diet of solid junk and sugar, but I don't really sweat the organic/ non organic thing.

[twotrue]

Yes and no. I'm not obessive about it but I try to give her organic, no HFCS, whole wheat, etc. We don't do a ton of meat in this house but when we do I try to buy grass-fed, no hormone, etc. The one fruit I absolutely will not buy non-organic is bananas. The growing of bananas is one of the leading causes of rainforest deforestation. I only buy bananas that are rain forest alliance certified and 99% of the time those are the organic ones. Responsible farming matters to me, particularly when it comes to the rainforest.

[quinny]

Yes. Almost entirely. If we eat out, then no but anything in the house, specifically for him, is 100% organic. I am really strict about what he eats. We only eat organic fruit, veggies, and meat (chicken and beef only). Snacks, like ice cream, are typically not organic but that's it. But he's not eating ice cream so I don't have to worry about that yet!

[ElsaVonM]

We haven't started solids, but I doubt we'll worry about it too much. I buy organic milk and will for the kids, and most of our vegetables come from an organic farm CSA. We haven't made the jump to organic meat yet (even though I know that's the most important step to take to reduce exposure) - I'm trying to convince Jen that we should reduce our meat eating in general first.

I'm more concerned about balancing sugar than anything else. It's something I struggle with and I'm really determined to set a good example about moderation on that front.

[joyseattle]

We don't have kids, but I'm conscientious of what's in my diet, will be during pregnancy and plan to do so with kids. I'm similar to Mrs F when it comes to friends/family or going out (where it's sometimes hard enough to get vegan let-alone be picky about source). This (and cost) is why we mainly eat at home.

When buying produce I buy organic for the dirty dozen, but it depends when it comes to the clean 15. For example, avocados - where I get a lot of my good fat - mangos, and pineapple are all super expensive here, so I'll sometimes buy conventional depending on price. I also always try to buy organic for soy, peanuts, corn, etc things that are more likely to be GMO when conventional. I agree 100% with TT on bananas. We also wash all our produce prior to consuming, usually with a natural fruit wash. We try to avoid processed foods, preservatives/additives/artificial colors, and don't do HFCS.

For C, most meats for C are organic/free-range/grass-fed, as is all dairy and eggs. I'm assuming, regardless of my diet, that our kids will someday eat some of these things, and we'll make sure these are as organic and ethical as possible. If our children were being cared for outside the home, I wouldn't want to stress about what family members would give, but I would if it were a daycare situation.

For me, this is about both nutrition (which even though there's some research refuting it, I still believe is most likely better in organic), but mostly about toxic load. I'm also really scared of things like Montsano GMO corn that has been shown to cause rodent stomachs to explode after ingestion, but hasn't been tested with humans in any long-term way. Yuck!