The natural food movement has spun up entire chains of expensive grocery stores like Whole Foods, Natural Grocers, and Sprouts. Organic meat, animal products, and produce are becoming more common even in larger, often cheaper chains like Walmart, Aldi, and Costco. Organic foods proclaim fewer chemicals and gasp even better health! But shoppers, especially those on a budget, may wonder if the cost is worth the benefits, or if it’s mostly hype. While we aren’t organic experts, I’ve gone down this rabbit hole for our household, so I’ve compiled some of the information we used to guide our decision to help you do the same. Without further ado, let’s dive into if buying organic food is worth the extra cost, or just a waste of money you could spend elsewhere.
What does organic mean?
“Organic” is a label in the US that the US Department of Agriculture certifies for items that meet a set of standards. These include:
- Overseen by a USDA NOP-authorized certifying agent
- No genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
- Can only be produced using allowed substances
A lot of people say or think that fertilizers or pesticides can’t be used on organic food. While it’s true that generally synthetic pesticides and fertilizers can’t be used, when you pull up the laundry list of allowed substances, there is an entire section (205.601 for the fellow nerds who want to dig into the research themselves) on synthetic substances allowed in producing organic crops, which include:
- Alcohols like ethanol
- Chlorines like calcium hypochlorite
- Copper sulfate
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Soap-based algicides
- Soap-based herbicides
- Newspapers and recycled paper as compost
- Ammonium
- A crap ton of insecticides
- Ferric phosphate and elemental sulfur as slug or snail bait
- A ton of crop disease control substances, such as copper sulfate, polyoxin D zinc salt (whatever the hell that is)
And so forth. So to say farmers don’t use fertilizers and pesticides on organic foods would be misleading.
The intention behind these claims is often to suggest that organic foods offer better farming practices and sustainability. The USDA does require that organic products must be “produced using agricultural production practices that foster resource cycling, promote ecological balance, maintain and improve soil and water quality, minimize the use of synthetic materials, and conserve biodiversity.” It’s unfortunately pretty vague, however, on any specific requirements on what that entails, other than the few we outlined above.
Why do people buy organic food?
I could blindly guess, but why bother when we can do it Family Feud style and compare guesses to responses from a polled audience. There have been research studies on this specific topic, such as this one.
The most common reasons people cited in the linked study were:
- Health consciousness (48%)
- Environmentally friendly production (15%)
- Perceived freshness (9%)
- Better taste (5%)
- Non-use of pesticides (survey says, this is a lie though) or lower pesticide residues (19%)
How much more does organic food cost?
The numbers are over the place here. Consumer Reports did a study of 100 different product comparisons and found an average 47% higher cost for organic foods than non-organic, though they mentioned some organic products were actually cheaper and others were 303% more expensive. (Holy Chalupa Batman)
With Yahoo finance saying that data shows food inflation jumped 25% from November 2020 to March 2024, the rise in costs of non-organic food has been enough to cause tension at the checkout counters unrelated to the self-checkout drama for mis-scans and weighted items not registering in the baggage area–wait, don’t put your reusable bags in there or move anything yet, gahhh, now you have to start all over!!!
Add a 47% surcharge on top of 25% higher prices and you might wonder if organic is really 47% better than non-organic options?
I can’t make that call for you since we all weigh potential benefits differently, but I can do my best to help you decide.
Things to know about organic foods to help decide
- The verdict is out on overall benefits. Food suppliers know the hype and the craze, so they’re incentivized to up the marketing hype to get you to spend more. The jury is out, however, on if organic foods offer increased health benefits. And organic doesn’t automatically mean healthy. There are plenty of processed snack foods for kids and adults that are organic, but include sugar. Annie’s organic cinnamon rolls are still just empty carbs smothered in fake frosting, loaded with (albeit organic) preservatives and thickeners like guam gum and “natural flavor”. Natural flavor is a topic that will take a daylong detour, but I highly recommend the book The Dorito Effect by Mark Schatzker if you’re interested in chasing that rabbit into Wonderland.
- Organic doesn’t mean no chemicals. The list above highlights only some of the chemicals that can be used on organic produce. One of my former coworkers mentioned he can’t eat apples from grocery stores, even organic ones, because he’s allergic to a certain chemical they treat them with. He knows he’s not allergic to apples, though, because he can eat them straight off the trees in the orchids near his hometown, where the farmers don’t treat them. And I can confirm he wasn’t just pulling my leg, because I accidentally poisoned him with cookies I brought in that had Granny Smith apple pieces in it and he broke out in a reaction. Sorry again, Matt!
- Organic foods tend to have fewer pesticide residues. While organic foods can still be treated with chemicals, studies suggest that organic foods typically have fewer pesticide residues than non-organic foods. Whether you buy organic or not, I highly recommend washing off any produce that you aren’t skinning before you prep it or eat it raw. Interestingly, the Mayo Clinic suggests washing any produce before prepping your food, even if it has a rind or skin. Noted! We also do our best to opt for fresh produce we prepare ourselves versus canned/frozen so we know how it was prepared.
- There are plenty of standards for both organic and non-organic foods. The next time you’re at the grocery story, grab a package of “free range” (if you’re interested in this detour, let us know in the comments and we’ll tackle it separately) Perdue chicken. You’ll notice it boasts that no hormones or steroids are added. Then you’ll see a little asterisk with a note that federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones or steroids in poultry, regardless of if it’s organic/free range or not. All food in the US must meet safety standards, regardless of how it’s grown. The difference is some additional standards for organic foods, such as GMO and irradiation restrictions. I haven’t dug into the research enough to know the impacts, if any, of GMOs and irradiation. If you have some verified research you’ve stumbled across, feel free to share it in the comments!
Which foods we buy organic and which we don’t
Now that we’ve laid out some fundamentals in the debate, let’s get down to the decision: what do we actually do? Get ready for my favorite answer: it depends.

When I dug into the organic debate, I learned about The Dirty Dozen and The Clean Fifteen. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit group that tests a variety of produce for pesticide residuals. They rank these each year from the most contaminated to the least.
When we’re doing our weekly grocery run, we try to buy organic versions of the Dirty Dozen. The Clear Fifteen we don’t bother with, unless the organic version is cheaper than the non-organic, which can happen, especially when there’s a sale.
We’ve pulled these from the 2025 EWG Full List for your reference.
The Dirty Dozen
- Spinach
- Strawberries
- Kale, collard, and mustard greens
- Grapes
- Peaches
- Cherries
- Nectarines
- Pears
- Apples
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Potatoes
This list changes from year to year. When I first researched the Dirty Dozen, US based blueberries were on the list, while blueberries from other countries weren’t, so I didn’t worry about organic as much as I did the country of origin. Now I buy the organic frozen blueberries from Costco. (Yes, I did say above I like to buy fresh versus frozen, but breakfast smoothies with fresh blueberries cost a ton in aggregate.)
The Clean Fifteen
Especially on a tighter budget, these aren’t as much of a concern to buy organic because any potential health risks of higher residual pesticides are lower.
- Pineapples
- Sweet corn, fresh and frozen
- Avocados
- Papaya
- Onion
- Sweet peas (frozen)
- Asparagus
- Cabbage
- Watermelon
- Cauliflower
- Bananas
- Mangoes
- Carrots
- Mushrooms
- Kiwi
It’s important to note that the EWG only includes 47 types of produce on their full list, so it isn’t all inclusive.
To help navigate the organic versus non-organic purchasing decision in our house, we studied the list for a hot minute. I noticed a few trends when comparing the Dirty Dozen to the Clean Fifteen:
- Produce with thick skins that you don’t eat (bananas, watermelon, pineapples, etc.) don’t seem to be as much of a concern because bugs also struggle to eat the skins, so there’s likely less need for pesticides to keep them at bay.
- Root veggies (carrots, sweet parsnips, turnips, beets, etc., except for baking potatoes interestingly) tend to not be a concern as well, likely because bugs have a harder time getting to them since they grow underground. Fun random fact: did you know sweet potatoes aren’t actually potatoes? Potatoes are nightshades while sweet potatoes are morning glories. We’re learning all sorts of new stuff today!
The final word
Paying more for organic food is a personal decision based on your values. As we say with every decision, spend your money on what matters most to you. This is one of the main differences between being frugal and being cheap. Now if you’re broke as joke, maybe you need to be cheap for a season, and that’s okay too.
If you are highly concerned about the environmental implications of farming and pesticides, you can use your purchasing power to voice your concerns. If you’re not convinced that organic foods offer a healthier alternative and/or are on a tight budget, you may opt to skip the organics in the store. Or you may be like me, a concerned skeptic that follows the data to the best of your ability and dabbles in both options.
If you’re looking for other ways to save money at checkout, explore our 10 tips for cutting down your grocery bill.