Most of us can buy some organic food at least some of the time. It’s available in grocery stores, on line, in farmers markets, even in convenience stores. Making even one shift – say, from conventionally produced milk to organic milk – is where a lot of people start. Yes, it might cost a couple of bucks more a week – but probably not more than any of us spend on some kind of crummy fast food take-out or a latte at the local coffee shop.

Have you started shifting to organic yet? Let us know what you’re doing and how it’s going.

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Scientists at Washington State University compared the milk that came from two groups of cows. The “old fashioned” cows had been fed a diet of mostly corn, probably living in what are called “confined animal feedlots” where they are also treated with hormones and antibiotics. The organic cows were raised in pastures, where they ate grassy plants. Both groups produce milk, but it turns out that the milk from organic cows has much higher levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids, the “healthy fats” that are good for the heart.

Dr. Charles Benbrook, who led the research team, said, “We were surprised by the magnitude of the nutritional quality differences.”

Both organic and old fashioned milk contain two kinds of fatty acids. Omega-3 helps improve heart health. Omega-6 poses risks for cardiovascular disease, cancer, inflammation and auto-immune disease.

Although the total amount of fat in both groups studied was about the same, the organic milk had 62 percent more omega-3 fatty acids and 25 percent fewer omega-6s than the old-fashioned milk.

Conclusion? If you drink milk containing any fat (whole milk, 2 %, 1%, reduced fat), the safest, healthiest milk to drink is organic.

Of course, organic skim milk is better for you, too. In fact, overall, organic agriculture has long been proven to be better for the environment because it avoids toxic pesticides and herbicides that can contaminate groundwater, pollute the air, and indiscriminately kill birds, insects and other wildlife. Organic milk and beef production requires that animals be treated more humanely and not given hormones and antibiotics, which can disrupt human reproduction and create antibiotic resistance in people.

With this study showing that the fat in organic milk is actually better for you than the fat in old fashioned milk, it should be a no-brainer to choose organic.

Got milk? Make it organic.

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Consumer Reports, which did the research on arsenic contamination in rice, reports that “According to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the U.S. is the world’s leading user of arsenic…since 1910 about 1.6 million tons have been used for agricultural and industrial purposes, about half of it only since the mid-1960s. Residues from the decades of use of lead-arsenate insecticides linger in agricultural soil today, even though their use was banned in the 1980s. Other arsenical ingredients in animal feed to prevent disease and promote growth are still permitted. Moreover, fertilizer made from poultry waste can contaminate crops with inorganic arsenic.”

Most plants absorb some arsenic when they are grown. But because rice is grown in water, it  absorbs significantly more arsenic, which ends up in the rice grains we eat.

What can you do?

* Eat less rice, especially babies, kids and pregnant women – Consumer Reports recommends that “babies eat no more than one serving of infant rice cereal per day on average. And their diets should include cereals made of wheat, oatmeal, or corn grits, which contain significantly lower levels of arsenic, according to federal information.”

* Wash rice before you cook it. Rinse rice before you wash it until the water runs clear, which will help wash away some of the arsenic .

* Cook rice in a lot of water. Consumer Reports recommends cooking rice in six cups of water for every one cup of raw rice you want to cook. When the rice is done, pour off the cooking water before serving. Between washing the rice and cooking it in extra water, you can reduce your exposure to the arsenic it contains by as much as 45%.

* Vary your diet. Regardless of your age, it makes sense to vary your diet and find healthful vegetable and whole grain alternatives to rice. Replace rice cakes with popcorn, rice cereal with oats or other whole grains, rice milk with almond milk or soy milk, rice syrup with maple syrup. Replace rice pilafs with whole wheat pasta dishes, couscous, or bulgur.

* Buy more organic food. Ironically, some organic rice cereals contained levels of arsenic equal to or higher than non-organic brands. So when it comes to rice, there may be no truly safe option. Nevertheless, buying organic food generally will help reduce the amount of arsenic added to the soil and that gets into groundwater.

* Sign this petition. Anna Hackman at Green Talk started this Change.org petition to encourage the Food and Drug Administration to set specific safety levels for arsenic in our food.

Here’s the link to the original report from Consumer Reports.

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