Rebecca and Nicole Eastman started eating organics when Rebecca was a toddler.
"I started to buy organic baby food and then while I was there I thought I might as well buy organic milk and then organic ketchup would be on sale," recalls Naomi Eastman.
Little by little they made the switch to an organic diet. But is her family really getting fewer pesticides?
According to the latest data from the United States Department of Agriculture pesticide data program, they are.
Test results show 65 per cent of conventional fruit had pesticide residue, while only 17 per cent of the organic fruit samples had residues. The results for vegetables were similar. They came in at 67 per cent for conventional vegetables, compared to 16 per cent of the organics.
Canada does not collect separate data for organics, so we can't tell you what the organic residue levels are here, only that 22 per cent of all fresh fruit and vegetables tested in Canada had pesticide residue. About 1.5 per cent had levels that exceeded legal limits.
The results were about the same for imports.
But organic produce will be tested separately when a new system comes into force in December.
Still, the man who heads up the program says that doesn't mean all organics will be 'pesticide free.'
"When your product is organic, it does not mean and there is no guarantee that the product will be free from pesticides, or free from residues and free from other things that are not permitted," said Michel Saumur, a manager with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
So what does 'organic' mean in Canada?
"What it means is the product has been produced under a very, very controlled system and everything has been done to limit substances that are not permitted in organic products, Saumur said. " However, a producer cannot control the rain, the water, drift, from their neighbours sometimes," he said.
The careful production techniques often mean organics cost more, but not always.
"A number of stores have organics and if you look at the flyers and buy things on sale and buy in bulk. What you can then do, you can pretty well almost make it the same price as conventional. I feel, you just have to be a smart shopper," says Saumur.
Naomi says it is worth it to her to pay more and she's hoping buying organics helps farmers and farm workers too, "For the farmers themselves it's healthier to not be using pesticides and dealing with chemicals."
Consider that most children are consuming anywhere from three to ten pesticide residues per day. While that is considered safe by Health Canada, according to the Organic Center, a Boulder, Colo., organic think-tank, going 'all organic' reduces your dietary risk from pesticides by almost 97 per cent.
How fast does switching to an organic diet affect you? A study by the University of Washington put children onto an organic diet. After just one week, pesticides were undetectable in their test samples.
