WE ARE WHAT WE EAT

When it comes to food, I always choose quality over quantity. I’d rather eat less, but healthier. Whenever possible, I choose organic, fresh foods, as they are higher in nutrients than frozen, dried, or precooked options. Research shows that fresh produce today is 40% less nutrient-dense than it was several decades ago, mainly due to modern farming practices that prioritize revenue and quantity over nutritional content. One of the reasons I recently started buying grass-fed, regenerative milk is because, after reading Good Energy by Casey Means, I finally gained clarity on the differences between organic, conventional, and regenerative products. I hope you find their definitions below as useful as I did.

Conventional farming relies on synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and mono-cropping, which depletes soil nutrients and creates long-term environmental issues. In the U.S., around one billion pounds of pesticides are used annually, some linked to health problems like cellular damage, obesity, and cancer. Conventional animal farming involves confinement, pesticide-treated grain diets, and antibiotics, raising concerns about both animal welfare and human health.

 Organically grown foods follow strict federal standards, mainly regulated by the USDA, which prohibit most synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and GMOs. Organic practices prioritize environmental sustainability, soil health, and biodiversity through methods like crop rotation, composting, and natural pest control. This approach not only supports healthier ecosystems but may also offer consumers reduced exposure to harmful chemicals.

Regeneratively grown food practices prioritize soil health and biodiversity. These methods focus on improving soil quality through techniques like crop rotation, composting, and other natural practices, while avoiding synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. Regenerative farming increases the population of beneficial soil microbes and enriches the soil with essential nutrients. Animals raised in regenerative systems roam freely in pastures and orchards, which results in higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their milk. Additionally, this milk contains six times more antioxidants and phytonutrients than conventional milk.

If I had to pick just a few organic items to always purchase, they would be dairy products and eggs. Here are a few of my favorites:

Eggs:

Vital Farms Organic Pasture Raised Eggs

Milk:

Maple Hill Organic Grass-Fed Whole Milk

Organic Valley Grass-Fed Whole Milk

Kefir:

Maple Hill Organic Unsweetened Kefir

Lifeway Organic Unsweetened Kefir

Cottage Cheese:

Good Culture Cottage Cheese Blue Label 2% Milk Fat or White Label 4% Milk Fat

Organic Valley Cottage Cheese low fat or full fat

Ricotta Cheese:

Natural by Nature Organic Ricotta Cheese

Galbani Whole Milk Cheese (white label Harris Teeter)

Butter:

Kerry Gold Salted Grass-Fed Butter

Lewis Road Creamery Salted Grass-Fed Butter

RESOURCES:

• The Nation’s First Regenerative Dairy Works with Nature to Heal the Soil—at Scale

• FORBES; Conventional Farming is Killing Us

• ORGANIC VS. CONVENTIONAL FARMING

• What Is the Difference Between Organic and Regenerative Agriculture?