Why I don’t buy organic avocados

In order to save money, I used to hit three different grocery stores every time I shopped. (Obviously, this was before gas was about a bajillion dollars a gallon.) 

I knew the Safeway down the road had the cheapest containers of skim milk. 

I knew the King Soopers a mile from Safeway had cheaper packages of Frosted Mini Wheats (that old vice died hard). 

I also knew that if we wanted to splurge for the good chocolate (priorities) I’d have to hit the Whole Foods on the northside of town. 

Then, thanks to a slew of health and gut issues, I was instructed to do a lengthy elimination diet and focus more on whole foods (as in, one-ingredient foods, not to be confused with the store Whole Foods). 

This meant more produce. More shopping on the outer aisles of grocery stores. Less shopping on the inner aisles (peace out Mini Wheats). 

I was also advised to start focusing on more organic foods, especially when buying produce. 

Organic ain’t cheap. Piggy banks don’t lie. 

My budget-minded self only saw high price tags on organic produce – I recoiled over $3 apples as if I was Snow White encountering an apple after her sleepy adventure. 

To get a grip on my wallet, I did one of the things I do best – I researched. 

Turns out, not all organic produce is created equal when it comes to how you spend your dollars. 

Enter the Clean Fifteen and the Dirty Dozen lists. (Thanks, Environmental Working Group for doing the real research!)

Checking those lists became a ritual for me before I’d go shopping. I started to memorize the sparkly clean and grungy dirty produce lists. My diligent self even downloaded the app. 

But I still wanted to try to keep it simple when I was doing more of a mad-dash-Supermarket-Sweep style grocery store run. 

While a lot goes into categorizing those lists, one thing I learned felt easy to remember and stuck with me – if you’re not going to eat the skin, it’s less of a hazard to buy conventional produce. The skin holds on to all those gnarly pesticides used in conventional farming.

This also means when you’re going to consume the whole piece of produce (like spinach leaves, strawberries, peppers, celery etc) it’s better to buy organic. 

(Apparently though, zucchinis lean more towards clean than dirty so this isn’t a foolproof rule.)

Bottom line – if I wanted to be healthier, I had to start spending a little more than I used to. But at least I could be strategic about how I spent my dollars.

These days I also view food as medicine – what goes in my body helps fuel all those hard working organs and cells. I mean, our skin is our largest organ so what goes in the belly is often reflected on the skin. (Frosted Mini Wheats = pimples. Dang it.) 

I figure the more I pay attention to what goes in, hopefully the less trips to the doctor. And doctors aren’t cheap. 

I’m still thinking about how to save the dollars in the long run. 

I definitely spend more than I used to on produce and food (I appreciate you, my hard-earned growing income). But I’m still mindful of whether or not I’m consuming the skin when I need to save a few, plus checking the lists on EWG. 

Sorry avocados, until I’m biting into you like a Sasquatch it’s the conventional shopping list for you. 

I have to add – whenever I can swing it, I buy organic or local. Not just for my own sake, but for the environment and the wellbeing of our planet too. But that’s a topic for another day.