Our bodies need to be eating the best possible food.  How often have we heard, you need to eat your vegetables?  Well our vegetables today are not what they used to be.  They are lacking in nutrients and why is that?  One of the reasons is our food travels from across the country and also from South America.   As soon as it is picked it starts to lose its nutrients. It goes from being picked to traveling hundreds, if not thousands, of miles to get to the store, then it sits for days until we purchase it and then we leave it in our refrigerators until it is time to consume it. How much nutrients do you think is left in them by the time you eat them? 

1. Organic plants contain 25% higher concentration of micronutrients than conventional plants. They also tend to have higher levels of antioxidants and polyphenols, like vitamin C and vitamin E.

2. Local vegetables from local farms carry higher amounts of vitamins and minerals than those that travel to get to us. A study done at Penn State University found that spinach loses 47% of its folate after 8 days from picking. That's why produce at a local farmer market or even better.

3. Organic food is grown without pesticides, herbicides or other harmful chemicals. These chemicals are used they help grow the produce faster and bigger to make it more appealing to consumers, by preventing all the bugs to stay away from it. However, we have learned over time that these chemicals wreck havoc on our bodies and can cause gut issues, cancer, and other diseases.

4. Organic tastes better.

5. In-season vegetables have the most nutrients especially picked locally.

If it comes down to cost, try to buy the following organic:

• mushrooms

• leafy greens

• spinach

• kale

• potatoes

• tomatoes

• peppers

• celery

These vegetables are also known as the clean 15.  They contain the least number of residues and buy them locally when you can. 

• sweet corn

• cabbage

• sweet peas

• onions

• asparagus

• eggplant

• cauliflower

• sweet potatoes.

Remember we want to treat our bodies the best that we can, so continue to eat whole nutritious foods and choose local, organic and seasonal where possible.