If you have limited access to, or are unable to afford organic produce, then re-prioritize to the degree that you can and try to do the best with what you can find/afford.
Limited Availability
Depending on where you’re situated, and the season of the year, there are a few ways you can try to compensate for the limited access to a wide selection of fresh, organic produce.
- Make sure you’ve checked your area (including online) for any possible farmer’s markets or smaller greengrocer that may carry organic produce.
- Look for the possibility of ordering organic produce from an online vendor to be shipped directly to your address or for you to pick up at a designated, local pick-up facility.
- Check for availability of organic, frozen fruits and berries.
- Order the required material and grow what you can at home (outside and/or indoor). The very simplest you can do, is to grow a variety of sprouts (e.g. alfalfa, arugula, red clover, radish, fenugreek, dill, etc.) indoor. Refer to the Sproutpeople’s website for more information on sprouting.
- Forage for wild, edible plants some of which you can juice, add to salads include in smoothies, tincture, brew into tea, or dry (and then tincture, make tea of, or powder and encapsulate). The most common and easily identifiable plants include dandelion greens, plantain, nettle, milk thistle, chickweed, burdock, and purslane.
Be sure it’s the right plant you’re harvesting before ingesting it in any fashion.
Affordability
Some people simply can't afford to buy exclusively organic produce, if at all. Others CAN afford it but it would require them to prioritize what’s most important and leaving out what they don’t need (but have a hard time giving up).
- Again, try to get organic sprouting seeds and also get into the habit of harvesting wild plants (basically free food and medicine).
- Figure out if it’s possible for you to take advantage of clearance produce at your local greengrocer or grocery store.
- Wash your produce thoroughly. Get to know what the most “chemically polluted” vs. cleanest fruits and vegetables are, from the Environmental Working Group’s list of the ‘dirty dozen and clean fifteen‘ fruits and vegetables.
A common suggestion, to limit chemical exposure on a tight budget, is to make sure you purchase the organic variety of the dirty dozen (produce with the most pesticide residue) and conventional variety of the cleanest produce. If that’s not possible, don’t sweat it – but always clean your produce well (whether organic or not). Peel off the skins of fruits that are coated with wax (as commonly seen on apples and cucumbers).
Albeit among the dirty dozen, grapes and apples are still going to be effective allies if you cannot get them organic.
Also, see article, Don’t Eat or Touch “Apeel” Produce! This Applies to Organics, Too, and avoid produce coated with Apeel.