Maybe you’ve known for a while that you wanted to make the shift to organic eating. Perhaps you’ve only just begun to learn about what goes into your food before it arrives at your table. Maybe you’ve had some health complications and have been advised to make the switch but have no idea where to begin.

Whatever your reason for seeking out organic foods, know that you’re not alone, it’s a long process and involves a fair bit of learning, but the information is readily available. The following will walk you through the necessary steps in switching up your diet from conventional to organic.

1.  Remind Yourself That It’s A Process

Changes to one’s health, diet, and lifestyle take time. There are going to be mistakes; you might feel frustrated or confused at points. It’s going to take time to find all the alternatives you want. Remind yourself that the switch is a process—it doesn’t need to happen overnight. It’s better that you make the small changes you can when you can instead of biting off more than you can chew and result in giving up entirely. 

If you want this transition to be successful, you’ll also have to gear up properly before getting any produce. Make sure to read about some Organic Authority-tested non-toxic cookware that you can use to prepare your future meals in. Having proper equipment will ensure that you are not restricted in your options or even in the portion sizes of dishes that you can make.

2. The Dirty Dozen

There are many different areas that going organic will touch in your life. Start with the dirty dozen, which is a list released each year of the produce that is highest in pesticides and other harmful processing chemicals. These twelve items should be the first things you begin buying organic. Again, it’s a process. Lift some of the stress off yourself to get everything perfect straight away and focus on finding organic alternatives to the most dangerous foods first. With that said, you can make this process even less stressful if you opt for an organic meal kit service like Green Chef. They’ll ensure that all of the produce you eat is organic.

3.  Meat And Dairy

Here’s where it’s going to get a little more complicated. Conventional meat and dairy products have many health concerns associated with them. If you want to go organic, you need to be thinking about pesticides in your meat and dairy products. For example, if you’re eating only organic produce yourself, but the cow your burger is made from was eating grains coated in pesticides in mass quantities, you’re also going to be absorbing these toxins.

It might take some time to find suitable alternatives—meat and dairy products that were grass-fed organically aren’t available everywhere. If this is a massive hurdle for you, you might want to check out a meat service like US Wellness Meat or Butcher Box, which provides all the high-quality meat you’d need as a subscription delivery service. If both sound good, take a moment to read about the comparison between the two so you can figure out which better suits your lifestyle and meal preferences. Again, take your time. It’s better to make a few small changes than making no changes at all.

vegetables

4. Branch Out Into Other Produce And Home Products

Once you’ve found a healthy balance with the big pesticide culprits, you can begin to switch over your other produce to organic options. You can also start to seek out organic hygiene products, cleaning products, and scent-based products as often these can contain high amounts of pesticides or other toxic chemicals.

With the above steps followed, you’re well on your way to incorporating more organic products into your lifestyle. Depending on where you live and what you have access to, this might take some time. Try not to beat yourself up over the non-organic foods you consume and instead focus on the small organic wins you can pull off.