For some, it’s difficult to justify spending $17 on a USDA certified organic chicken breast when a perfectly good-looking generic variety is on sale for $5.99. More and more shoppers, however, are deeming the price difference worth it. What was considered a hippie fringe movement for decades is now mainstream, with organic produce, meat and personal care products filling store shelves and kitchen and bathroom cabinets across the country. Even the White House boasts a taste for organic.The people who decide to switch to organic products—which contain no synthetic additives and are farmed without synthetic fertilizers or pesticides—are as diverse as the produce aisle at Whole Foods. Their concerns and motivations often differ; what is crucial to one family might not matter a lick to another. But they all converge on the choice to incorporate organic products into daily life. Which organic personality are you?QUIZ: Test Your Personality TraitsThe Health-Conscious ConnoisseurThe health argument for eating organic foods tends to revolve less around what organic foods contain and more about what they don’t contain. Because organic foods are grown without synthetic pesticides or herbicides, choosing organic over conventional edibles lessens the risk that you’re getting a hidden chemical dressing along with your baby greens. “We used to think DDT was really safe,” says Jessica Shade, director of science programs at the nonprofit Organic Center. “One thing that’s really frightening to me is the thought that 20 to 30 years from now we might find out that a lot of the pesticides or herbicides we think are safe now may have all kinds of negative effects.”Research links pesticides to a number of health impacts. One 2012 study found that people with higher levels of dichlorophenol—a chemical used in pesticides—in their system were more likely to have food allergies. A 2013 paper hints that glyphosate, an ingredient in the leading pesticide Roundup, might induce breast cancer cell growth. Research also links pesticides to Parkinson’s disease. And pesticides aside, conventional livestock farms can be incubators for antibiotic-resistant bacteria, a growing major concern for human health.Captain PlanetPesticides, as their name implies, kill pests. But they also zap a myriad of other non-harmful insect species that may unwittingly come into contact with the poison. One study found 42 percent fewer invertebrate species in streams that had been contaminated with pesticide runoff than those free from the chemicals. Likewise, pesticides are implicit in butterfly declines and might even be to blame for colony collapse disorder, a devastating disease that has picked off nearly a third of the country’s bee colonies.MORE: The Miracle of Manuka Honey for AcneFertilizer runoff from conventional farms is also a problem, as added nutrients, such as nitrogen, make their way into rivers and eventually into larger bodies of water. There, they feed massive algae blooms, like the one in Lake Erie. The algae blooms suck up oxygen, suffocating fish and other organisms nearby. Fertilizer is the culprit behind a giant dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Soil from organic farms, on the other hand, are more porous, so they retain water better, lessening issues with runoff and erosion from agricultural fields. They also hold onto higher concentrations of nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous and have a more active microbiome—plusses for both growing plants and water systems.Finally, organic farms require less energy from fossil fuels and produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions per acre (but not necessarily per unit of food), lowering their contribution to climate change.Protective MotherEnvironmental contaminants especially impact babies and kids. “Their immune systems are still forming,” Shade says. “Anything they’re exposed to is going to have a stronger negative effect.” Problems associated with exposures can begin in the womb, where babies may encounter a number of chemicals passed on by their mothers, including pesticides, which could impact the baby’s growth or development. One study found that a mother’s circulatory concentration of organochlorine pesticides (like DDT) affected motor activity of her developing fetus, an indication of exposure in utero.Some research indicates that in addition to being free of potentially harmful pesticides, certain organic foods may contain more nutrients. Compared to conventional milk, organic milk contains a healthier ratio of omega-3-to-omega-6 fatty acids, for example, and organic tomatoes boast up to 50 percent more vitamin C than non-organic ones.The Community Organ(ic)izerFarmers also encounter different health issues depending on whether they work on a conventional or organic farm. Workers at conventional farms may accrue genetic damage from pesticide exposure, research shows, or pick up an antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection when working with over-medicated livestock. Farmers regularly exposed to herbicides also tend to suffer from depression more frequently than those who work in organic, herbicide-free environments. “Anytime you as a consumer chose an organic product, you’re supporting a system that’s good for our farmers and farmers’ families,” says Barbara Haumann, a spokesperson for the Organic Trade Association.The TastemakerYou’re hip, healthy and always on trend, and now is as good a time as any to jump on the star-studded organic bandwagon. In recent years, celebrities have taken up the organic banner. Katie Holmes is associated with the movement by proxy after paparazzi spotted the “Whole Foods mom” pushing a Suri- and produce-loaded shopping cart through that mecca of urban organics on multiple occasions. Others, such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Victoria’s Secret Angel Miranda Kerr, promote organic food and products directly—Paltrow through her lifestyle site, Goop, and Kerr through an organic cosmetic line she created, Kora Organics. Fans can even sip on celeb-certified organic wine Miraval produced on Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s organic vineyard in the south of France.MORE: Beauty Shopping for a Cause
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