Buying Organic and my new pledge.

Apparently fresh fruit and veg is less nutritional now because of the way it is grown. Even people who eat their 5 portions a day might still be lacking in the essential minerals and vitamins if they choose to eat non-organic.

But eating organic comes at a cost. Literally! It is so expensive.

The items you want to be buying organic are your meat (grass fed meat), eggs, fruit and veg.

This week our family bought two 1kg bags of bananas, a bag of braeburn apples, a four pack of golden delicious apples, bag of oranges, 3 lemons, 2 packs of blueberries, red grapes, celery, cucumber, plum tomatoes, 4 gem lettuces, rocket, pack of 3 peppers, spring onions, 2 packs of leeks, swede and button mushrooms.

We buy SO much fresh produce. Luke has a salad every day for his pack lunch and takes 3 pieces of fresh fruit with it. Ben absolutely adores grapes and bananas and I love my berries and golden delicious apples to snack on. I make a cleansing lemon drink every morning and I whip up a salad most days. I also like to include lots of fresh veg in the dinners I make.

The trouble is I can't afford to buy organic. I shop at Aldi and look out for the weekly Super Six Veg offers. Blueberries are 69p a pack this week! Where else would I find this offer?

I understand you get what you pay for but how can I afford to go Organic?

What we need to remember is the CLEAN FIFTEEN and DIRTY DOZEN.

Here are the CLEAN FIFTEEN. The products we don't need to worry so much about buying Organic.

1. Asparagus
2. Avocado
3. Cabbage
4. Cantaloupe
5. Corn
6. Eggplant
7. Grapefruit
8. Kiwi
9. Mangos
10. Mushrooms
11. Onions
12. Papayas
13. Pineapples
14. Sweet peas (frozen)
15. Sweet potatoes

What I mean buy this is that these fruit and veg have been tested and the results show the lowest levels of pesticide residue.

Now here are the DIRTY DOZEN. The products we should always try and buy organic.

1. Apples
2. Celery
3. Cherry tomatoes
4. Cucumbers
5. Grapes
6. Hot peppers
7. Nectarines (imported)
8. Peaches
9. Potatoes
10. Spinach
11. Strawberries
12. Sweet bell peppers

+PLUS

• Collards and kale
• Summer squash and zucchini

Apples and potatoes, when tested, contain the highest levels of pesticide residue. Even a single grape contained 15 different pesticides! How crazy is that!

Unfortunately even after knowing all of this my budget still doesn't allow me to buy everything organic so my new pledge and the next best thing is to BUY LOCAL.

I am going to my local farmers market this week to buy produce which has been grown nearby and this is far better than buying vegetables which have been imported from Chile and Spain. I'm going to buy Derbyshire honey which we all know you are supposed to eat your local honey and I am going to continue to support my local businesses.

For now, until I can afford to, this is the best I can do for my family.