Cooking organic? It may cost you. (Barbara P. Fernandez for The New York Times)Most people know that eating organic costs more. But according to SmartMoney.com, Thanksgiving diners may pay as much as $100 extra for an organic holiday meal.
The financial advice Web site went shopping to find out how much extra consumers have to pay to get organic versions of traditional holiday foods. Creating a shopping list for a traditional menu to serve eight people, they selected organic and nonorganic foods from a Whole Foods, Associated Supermarket and a Food Emporium, all located in New York City.
“Overall, the organic version of our turkey-day menu for eight people — including dinner rolls, a salad and three bottles of organic wine — totaled $295.36. That puts the organic premium for the meal at $126.35, or 75 percent, compared with the same shopping list filled with nonorganic options,” wrote SmartMoney.
Here’s a sample comparing the prices of organic and nonorganic Thanksgiving foods.
- Turkey (20 pounds) $99.80 vs. $23.80
- Vanilla ice cream (3 quarts) $21.87 vs. $15.98
- Yams (5 lbs.) $9.95 vs. $3.95
- Broccoli (2 lbs.) $5.98 vs. $3.98
- Heavy whipping cream (2 pints) $5.58 vs. $4.00
- 2 cans of pumpkin filling $5.00 vs. $3.19
- 1 bag cranberries $4.99 vs. $2.49
So is it worth it? Health experts are divided on whether consumers derive any real health benefits by choosing organic foods. For consumers on tight budgets who want to buy organic, the Environmental Working Group recommends a strategic approach. Choose organic foods for those products that typically have high pesticide residues, like apples, bell peppers, celery and strawberries. But for commercially-farmed products that have low pesticide levels, like avocados, onions and pineapples, you can save money by buying nonorganic varieties.
Pediatrician Dr. Alan Greene, of the popular Web site www.drgreene.com, offers an organic prescription listing the best organic items for parents to choose. Topping the list is milk and milk products. One recent United States Department of Agriculture survey found pesticides in about 30 percent of conventional milk samples and low levels in only one organic sample.
To read more about the high price of an organic holiday meal and to see more food comparisons read the full story at SmartMoney.com.
Beginning today through Jan. 2, the Well blog will feature “30 Days of Holiday Eating,” a new series that will include a daily tip, tidbit or insight about holiday food.
Healthy living doesn't happen at the doctor's office. The road to better health is paved with the small decisions we make every day. It's about the choices we make when we buy groceries, drive our cars and hang out with our kids. Join columnist Tara Parker-Pope as she sifts through medical research and expert opinions for practical advice to help readers take control of their health and live well every day. You can reach Ms. Parker-Pope at 
The easiest and most pleasurable way to eat well is to cook. Recipes for Health offers recipes with an eye towards empowering you to cook healthy meals every day. 
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Choosing to eat organic is not just about potential direct health benefits. It’s about choosing a more environmentally-friendly way of eating. It’s about choosing foods that are not the result of farm workers being exposed to pesticides while raising that food. It’s about humane treatment of animals. Recent studies have shown that organic farming methods use less water, that organic tomatoes have higher levels of lycopenes, that milk and meat from cows raised on pasture, rather than on corn feed in factory farms, have higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidents.
— ginnyOrganically raised animals are not doused with antibiotics, a practice that is contributing to antibiotic-resistant disease bacteria.
It may be more expensive in the short run, but to many people, it’s worth it.
I have purchased a turkey from a local farm - it was ready last Saturday. I think the meat and dairy are the most important organics for me to serve the kids I love and feed. Holiday foods are part of making memories, so I excuse myself on holidays from making sure we have our usually mostly healthy diet. Go for it!!
Deciding between organic and “conventional” is a dilemma I struggle with the rest of the year. Mostly my struggle is with costs and availability. It requires another level of decision at the grocery store, even the “healthy, whole food” markets. I like the resources you used in your article, Tara. I use guides like “The Dirty Dozen” from the Environmental Working Group.
Organic, however, does not always mean healthy. There are plenty of organic junk foods out there — high calorie, expensive, little nutrition. I am shocked when I read labels on these foods, because they are packaged like health foods, but contain long lists of ingredients, many of which are just preservatives, sugars, and other chemicals.
I’ve developed an Ethical Eating Guide for myself. It goes like this.
Buy local and organic.
If not local and organic, buy local.
If not local, buy mostly organic if fresh and cost-effective.
If not organic, then the least processed and packaged.
I can’t always find local foods, and I don’t want to drive long distances to buy the variety that I need. That’s why I like the local co-op market, and that’s why we’ve started our own local eating group.
We can all do better, but it takes time and experience to know how to do it. In the meantime, I think it’s important to read labels and remain alert because we are what we eat!!!! And eating well most of the time means taking “holidays off” and enjoying occasional junk food does no harm. Ellie at http://www.FeedingTheKids.com
— Ellie TaylorOf course mass produced turkeys are cheaper. Readers who plan to eat one might look at the archive on the op-ed page about why they shouldn’t want one on their table.
— Anne JacobsonAll of this “back-to-nature” stuff that foodies and Yuppies love so much is a bunch of organic baloney which serves to drive up the cost of foods. It is feel-good stuff with no proven value. On top of that, a lot of organic produce doesn’t taste as good as its non-organic counterpart.
Voting with one’s dollars is how how this stuff gets decided in the marketplace because the cost of food is one of the main ways people decide what to buy. If organic food continues to cost more than non-organic food, it will never become widespread.
— Rob L, N Myrtle Beach SCThere are many ways non-organic food could hurt you. Pesticides and hormones top the list.
However, are we smart enough to conclude that studies showing harm in mice, rats, and test tubes are applicable to humans eating non-organic food?
We can’t rely on mouse studies. Example: we can cure just about every mouse cancer there is, and we know this is not true for humans.
Show me human outcomes. Is there more food-related pesticide-related illness with non-organics in humans? More human disease? Earlier human puberty? Something other than all these indirect studies?
— jackBut, but, but: I know this is the “well” column, but surely at least the point should be made that many, many people do not buy organic solely because of their own health concerns. Factored into the cost of the organic produce etc (hopefully) is the health of the environment as well as the local economy–which in turn may indeed help develop a climate of healthier individuals. It’s all connected dammit; make the connections. sheesh.
— ashaThere’s a reason people call Whole Foods “Whole Paycheck.” For those with room, one way to keep your organic costs down is to shop at your local farmer’s market. I just purchased gorgeous organic baby salad greens for $4/lb/. Better still, grow your own. Below are my costs for our Thanksgiving dinner:
Locally raised free-range organic turkey $2.30/lb $32.20
my own organic green beans
my own organic fingerling potatoes
my own swiss chard
locally grown organic carrots &parsnips $2.50/lb
Locally raised organic cranberries $3.00/lb
organic salad greens $4
potato/leek soup with my own potatoes and leeks
my own pumpkin puree
Locally grown organic (un-certified) apples $.50/lb
Locally produced whipping cream $4.25/pt
Organic butter $4.69/lb
TOTAL $51.14
— AliI realize that we are all to assume that pesticides in the food are bad bad bad.
— J. RosenIs there any real evidence that that is actually the case? and, by the by, is there any evidence to the contrary? that pesticides in the food result in lower levels of disease, death rates, whatever?
I find it interesting that after decades of propaganda about organic foods there is not one large-scale controlled study showing the differences in measurable health outcomes - cancer rates, death rates, etc. - between groups using largely organic diets vs. groups using largely conventional diets, controlling for other factors such as smoking, income levels, access to health care….
Come on, who cares about the cost? Aren’t you happy to be redistributing some of your cash to needy organic farmers? I know I ,for one, really appreciate it and isn’t that what counts?
— Steven W from FordBut buying organic is also an ethical choice, i.e. a choice to support agriculture practices that, if not sustainable, at least have at the core a concern for the health of the consumer, the produce and the land. The fact that we’ve lost sight of this is another sign that the organic label has become meaningless and that (despite Michael Pollan’s efforts) Americans give basically no thought to where their food comes from or how it’s produced.
— CincinnatusOnly three bottles of organic wine? Are the dinner guests driving the electric car home?
Just in case readers might be wondering, there is no paucity of organic wine out there — it is increasingly easy to find. You won’t need to restrict yourself by choosing organic this holiday season.
Here, for example, are a dozen affordable and easy-to-locate organic red and white wines. Happy Thanksgiving!
— MarcusI’m willing to compromise on organic. I’m never willing to compromise on free-range and humanely raised meat/poultry. I would prefer to forego having other items on my table and pay for a bird that has been raised in an ethical manner. But the price difference you showed here seems extreme. By shopping around and going on the Internet I’m sure readers can find less expensive and humanely raised turkeys. In Chicago, I found a 22lb turkey for $45.
— SiobhanI find it odd and sad that so many people, including comments here, are so cut off from their senses that they would be turning to “science” for answers, when it is science which
— Marinhas gotten us into this mess, along with advertising. Anyone eating pure organic food for a long enough time (and, there are many other less expensive source for buying it than “whole foods market” - just look around!!) will find that it tastes better, looks better, and one eats LESS because it is more fulfilling of nutrients and vitality than controlled, hybridized, mass produced “food”. My costs for thanksgiving are next to nothing in that I will be using Russian chard and butternut squash that I easily grew, and will keep 3 quarts of ice cream and your quart of heavy cream totally out of my dinner.
It tastes better. It’s that simple.
— carnap, New York CityI’m all for this, although presently we cannot afford to consistently eat organic…the issue is trust, however. I find it hard to trust that organic really means organic. Too many people/corporations are cashing in on being “green” and so the consumer usually is left wondering.
http://swine.wordpress.com
— (S)wineI made sure I bought one of those turkeys executed by Sarah Palin.
— DanYes, eating organic can be better for you but when you don’t have the money, it really doesn’t matter.
— StevieIn terms of eating chemicals, wouldn’t you rather err on the side of caution? I think it is well worth the money not to eat pesticides and unneeded antibiotics.
J.Rosen, you can wait for the studies to come out, but in the meantime I’m going to assume that eating pesticides is not a beneficial choice.
— jmg27To the poster named Ali:
You must live in northern California, or somewhere else equally clement. In Chicago in November, there is no way to eat your home grown Swiss Chard, unless you have a greenhouse. (It’s currently snowing.) And local farms have pretty much settled in for their long winter’s nap, so that’s also out of the question.
People get their organic groceries from Whole Foods, etc, because that’s pretty much the only choice they have.
(PS - can I eat at your house this year?)
— Sasha BIn response to #4:
Rob L.-
(here we go again)
Organic food doesn’t taste as good!? Where did you hear that, Monsanto’s web page? You are right about places like Whole Foods who price gouge, but in general Organic food costs more than conventianal food because its not subsidized. The organic pricing reflects the free market, while conventional reflects the agro-corporate welfare office we all know as USDA. And even though it does cost more, it has gained significant market share becuase people DO vote with their dollars, and QUALITY is a what more ans more people are voting for.
— AmerigoEating organic is nothing more or less than a status statement for the upper-middle-class and for those with the desire to be seen as a part of that class. It’s the Rolex of the early twenty-first century.
It’s the same people who trade in an already built car to get a Prius, thus causing a net increase in energy demand by causing an incremental car built — and an increase in the production of the metals, glass, plastic, and whatnot required to build it.
— kenh/pittsburghRead Michael Pollans “The Omnivore’s Dilemma.” Not only is organic food often not significantly better for you, but organic farming and production have reached levels of industrialization and fossil fuel dependence that are rapidly closing in on conventional agribusiness.
Buy Local. Ellie Taylor has it right.
— CurtAli has it right and his list and costs are not the exception but pretty much standard. Just ask around your local farmer’s market and you’ll find a turkey and get some really good deals on vegetables.
I’m in NC in the piedmont region so we have plenty to choose from and I realize that not everyone is so fortunate. Northeastern markets may be limited in what they offer this time of year but there is still plenty of great seasonal foods to choose from, including those to make a fantastic holiday meal.
— David MyersIf eating organic is better for you why should it be restricted only to the wealthy and upper middle class who can afford the organics. President elect Obama should set as one of his highest priorities to provide subsidies to any who want to buy organic and further these subsidies should be sufficient to induce purchase of the organic’s in lieu of nonorganic foods as part of a national health care plan.
— JimGood health is a right not an option. Perhaps he should mandate organic foods or at a minimum make people who eat nonorganic food eat it outdoors by a garbage pit not where the good people are eating organic.
You’re looking shortsightedly at just the immediate dollar amount out of pocket.
What about the long term cost of topsoil depletion, fresh water pollution by overfertilizing, hundred mile dead zones in the ocean from fertilizer runoff, medical costs?
This is like saying you won’t spend the money to replace your roof, then down the road you not only have to replace your roof, but your ceilings and part of the structure, or your house falls down entirely.
Plus, go vegetarian and you’ve immediately saved over $70 of your costs and helped the environment even further.
— ellie