Give Me A 4, Give me A 9, Don't Give Me An 8

Bulk items, when purchased from the market, have PLU numbers assigned to them.  You know those tiny little stickers attached to most pieces of fruit.  Or the item numbers displayed when purchasing bulk whole foods in bins such as flour, grain, herbs, etc.  What is a PLU? .. Simply put: Price Look Up code.  You can tell many things from these seemingly random numbers.  Items beginning with a 9 are organically produced.  A 4 is conventionally produced, and if you can find a sticker with an 8 ... leave it at the gate.  These have been genetically modified (Frankenstein Laboratory Foods:( which I'll discuss soon.  Genetically modified (GM or GMO) foods have been a hot topic since they were introduced in the '90's.  I, for one, have great concern and have been one by one trying to eliminate them from my food chain due to adult onset food allergies. For more reading, here is one of many websites that offers a more detailed explanation. 

Yesterday, I mentioned posting a list of produce items that may contain higher pesticide residues.  This is what is known as the 'dirty dozen' ... and a few links so you can see the top offenders such as: 

1. peaches
2. apple
3. sweet bell pepper

For links revealing the dirty dozen ... and more, check here, or here.

The best bet is to grow your own produce, buy from small local farms that don't spray their crops with pesticides and practice good crop rotation, shop at your local farmers markets (always inquire what practices farmers use with their crops), or supermarket organic.  This is a numbers game with big agriculture ... if they see a trend with more people wanting and buying organic, then farming practices will change.  Organic does cost more ... but making good choices in the supermarket (eliminating junk food) will free up some of your spending power.   Tomorrow I'll look into what the label 'organic food' really reveals.  Do you grow or buy organic produce?