dirty dozen

Within the past 12 hours, I've heard 2 reports about a shocking report by Stanford, saying that organic food is no better than conventional produce.  More specifically, that organic foods offer no more vitamins and nutrients than conventional products. (What should you actually get from this study and find out about the dirty dozen, after the jump!)

Researchers took samples of umbilical-cord blood of ten babies and found 285 industrial chemicals present. Scary, right? Common food we ingest, cleaning products we use, and personal care products such as shampoo, toothpaste, and lotion we use on a daily basis ALL contain potentially dangerous chemicals. Lucky for us, Greening Your Family is a concise reference guide that gives us safer alternatives to everyday products. Author Lindsey Carmichael, MPH, outlines what chemicals are dangerous (and how they’re listed on labels) and specific brands that are safe. Easy to read, this book has tables, product lists, and additional references if you need more info. Whether you're starting your green journey or already have most of your house green, it's convenient and easy to sort your green product needs. Thanks to Lindsey, I made the switch to Tom's of Maine toothpaste & cut the Parabens from my shampoo & conditioner. We asked Lindsey a few questions about her book: (Read the full interview & ONE lucky commenter can download the app for free after the jump!)

57% of women believe that organic food is better for them, but only 26% will go out of their way to buy it, finds New Hope Natural Media. When you're strolling through the grocery store, it's easy to see that Organic costs more. But people who eat the 12 most contaminated fruits & veggies consume an average of 10 pesticides a day. You don't have to buy everything organic, but here's the 'Dirty Dozen" of fruits that you should buy organic, ranked from worst to bad: