One more reason to buy organic: FLAVOR. The other day I bought red delicious apples and yukon gold potatoes, like I always do. But I bought organic versions for the first time. When DH got home, our 6 year old son went running to the door, wanting daddy to taste how good his apple was! They both agreed the apples were really good! Then I made the potatoes for dinner, and DH said they were the best potatoes he ever had. He didn't know the potatoes and apples were organic.

We buy as much organic as we can afford. Milk and yogurt for the kids is all organic. DS has goat's milk, which does not contain any growth hormones. The hormones in non-organic dairy have been linked to precocious puberty, which is why we purchase it for DD. We are doing what we believe we can to have our daughter enter puberty at a more typical age. DS has all organic baby food because it is our preference for him. We will do that as long as we can.

Michelle

You don't have to buy organic milk to get hormone-free. We buy Land O Lakes Natural milk. It's not organic, but it is hormone-free, and about $2 per gallon less than organic.

I just want the best for my kids!
I have neighbors who are wonderful mothers and very well-versed on organics, GMO's, high fructose corn syrup, gluten, pasteurization, MSG, etc. They are all college-educated, and in addition, probably could each have a doctorate from "Google University" for all of the research they have done.
They have been telling me for months about the benefits of whole foods and the dangers or pesticides, etc. Bit by bit, I have picked up some of the information and after doing some of my own research, I have made some changes in our diet. I buy organic when possible (both availability and financially) and started staying away from more processed foods.
There are so many studies on both sides, I don't know what to think half of the time. The other half tells me that chemicals, pesticides, and over-processing can't be good for us. I can tell you that most of the organic food tastes MUCH better. Even my husband (who is not sold on organics) says many (but not all) of the organic items taste better.

The more reading I do, the more I become discouraged! There are so many studies about what is good for us, I feel I should live in a bubble. The answer, I'm realizing is BALANCE! I'm going to do what I can to provide more homecooked meals using the freshest produce available. I'm also not going to get upset if they have McDonald's (or another fast food) once in awhile (or more often if life gets too crazy). Afterall, it is the overall picture we are trying to improve.

__________________
Darcilew

That's exactly how I feel. I don't mind some not-so-healthy food once in a while as long as I know we're eating better in general.

Organic farming is not as efficient and requires greater land usage than modern farming practices. With an ever growing population, if everyone ate organic, we would not have enough space to produce global food requirements.

WOW, what a great thread. Thank you for starting this Happymom!!

I have to agree with darcilew....balance!! Everything in moderation. We try to homecook meals as much as possible using fresh ingredients, but we order in Chinese every once in a while too. Who knows what it safe and what isn't, and like someone else said, it takes years to find out...and then oops the studies were wrong. I think your body becomes immune to certain things the more it is exposed to them, whatever that might be (food, medicine, ect)....so you gotta mix it up a little

Very interesting information in this thread!!

__________________
I've grown certain that the root of all fear is that we've been forced to deny who we are. ~ Frances Moore Lappe

I think this thread is great, but I think it should be "why NOT buy organic". For every study that shows something, there will be another study to disprove something...sometimes I think that scientists are discrediting each other so much that they discredit the entire field of science. I rarely cite studies for that reason. To me its simple...eat more of what has been handled less. The more human interaction is involved in the processing of food, more likely, the more harm it will do (or less benefit it will have). Who wouldn't want less pesticides on their food? And even if organics travel farther, that's the cost of doing business right now, but that could change if more people did it. And health is not a black and white issue, many times it is a gradual day to day shift so subtle you can't notice it until one day, bam, you have diverticulitis or something worse. I eat wholesome natural food even if I don't like the taste, as long as I know its good for me. And yes, we will all die one day, but while I'm around, I want to be healthy and not dragging my butt around for a few years with a variety of ailments. I figure 3 major things affect my health & well being: genetics (which I have no control); environment (very little control thanks to big brother); and food (total control)....

Where is your information for this coming from? I've seen articles that go both ways on efficiency and land requirments.