Eat 'Real' Rather Than Organic

It seems to be a widespread assumption, but eating organic doesn’t necessarily equal healthy eating, writes Mark Bittman in the New York Times. Organic food consumption is soaring, but the organic label is part of a “marketing program.”  To be healthy and help the planet, people should focus on consuming “real ingredients, increasingly from the plant kingdom,” whether or not they're organic, which often means expensive, Bittman argues.

That means staying away from processed food and reducing animal-product consumption, which is huge in the US. “Organic junk food is still junk food,” says an expert. A “real food” diet will help you and help the planet, cutting land, water, and chemical use; eating more plants means less greenhouse gas from the meat industry. And remember, “organic” doesn’t mean “‘safe,’ ‘healthy,’ ‘fair’ or even necessarily ‘good,’” Bittman writes.
(More organic food stories.)