Green This, Not That: Danny Seo On Choosing Food

When it comes to making green choices, the array of options can be baffling so, when it comes to making decisions, we often look to our gurus to guide us. Danny Seo is one of our constant touchstones; he does it economically, simply and very, very stylishly. If you're lucky enough to live in Canada, you may have caught his segment on Canada AM, "Green This, Not That." For the rest of us, he shared his tips on making decisions at the grocery store.

Fruit: When it comes to buying conventional vs. buying local and organic, choose local and organic when you're buying thin-skinned fruit, berries, grapes and apples. Thick skinned fruits that you eat peeled—including the tropicals like bananas, mangoes, pineapples and kiwis— are okay to purchase conventionally grown.

Alcohol: Organic wines are, naturally, made with organic grapes. They also don't have sulfites, a preservative that many people are allergic too (and, often, the reason you get a hangover even if you swear you only had a little). Don't worry about buying organic when it comes to hard alcohol. The process of making spirits filters out any pesticides

For more details, click here and, later today, look for Rachel's chart of seasonal produce for even more help at the grocery store.

Image: Daily Danny

Comments (4)

The idea that sulfites cause hangovers or headaches is a common misconception that has been proven to be false. And even though sulfites are not added to organic wines they usually still have naturally occurring sulfites. Many foods have very high levels of sulfites - molasses, grape juice, canned tomatoes, dried fruits... and no one gets a hangover from those. You get a hangover from drinking too much and dehydrating yourself, and sometimes red wine bothers people (because of the tannins I think) but that still has nothing to do with the sulfites.

No mention or comparison of the environmental and societal impact of non-organic produce?

I thought this was going to be about the relative carbon footprint of items, not percieved health benefits-I'm not sure the term for that is green?

I used to follow the "Dirty Dozen" rules and save a little money by buying some fruits/veggies conventional and some organic. Now, I go by the SOLE food rule: I shop Sustainable, Organic, Local, and Ethical. I'd rather shell out a little more for organic bananas even if the benefits don't directly affect my digestion--knowing they're grown in a more sustainable way is what I'm paying the extra 60 cents per pound for.