With the New Year upon us many of us have made the commitment to eat and live healthier. In most grocery stores you see items labeled “organic.” I was not 100% sure what that meant so I decided to go searching for the answer.

Organic refers to the way agricultural products are grown and also how they are processed. Organic farming refers to animals that receive no pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, nitrates or preservatives. They are fed only 100% certified organic feed and pasture.

There are certain guidelines that must be met in order to say that something is organic. The main point being no pesticides versus pesticides. Organic produce is grown with natural fertilizers like manure and compost where conventional produce is grown with synthetic or chemical fertilizers. Weeds in organic produce are controlled naturally with crop rotation, hand weeding, mulching and tilling while conventional produce controls weeds with chemical herbicides. Insects are controlled using natural methods like birds and good insects.

Organic foods provide a variety of benefits including better health, better taste, environmental safety and improved animal welfare. Organic gardening and farming creates products that have a higher level of nutrients that help our bodies protect against stress and disease. Many conventional products have chemical residues that are left behind from pesticides and antibiotics. Some scientists are concerned with the fact that the antibiotics the animals receive are the same ones humans use. Over time our bodies build up a resistance to these making it harder to treat and cure illnesses. This then leads to the need to use more powerful drugs to rid our bodies of the symptoms.

Organic products are usually more expensive and not all of us can afford the luxury of going completely organic. A great way to start is to prioritize which foods have the highest pesticide residues. The 12 most contaminated produce items are called the “dirty dozen” and are apples, celery, cherries, grapes, lettuce, nectarines, peaches, pears, potatoes, spinach, strawberries, and bell peppers. Many of these are delicately skinned fruits and have to be treated with so many pesticides that scrubbing and peeling doesn’t completely eliminate the chemical residue. Safer non-organic foods to purchase are called the “clean 15” and are asparagus, avocado, broccoli, cabbage, eggplant, kiwi, mango, papaya, pineapple, sweet corn, sweet peas, sweet potato, tomato, watermelon and onions. These have heartier skins and require fewer pesticides.

It is worth the time to explore and taste organic products. We are what we eat and by reducing the amount of chemicals we eat the health benefits not only positively affect our bodies but also the environment in which we live. Going organic is not just a trend that will fade with time, but will soon be the natural way to live.

For more great articles on living green, visit House Plans and More and their Green Resource Center.