My fellow Pats fans will probably be just as excited about my latest blog project as I am. This month, I’m teaming up with 360 Savings from Capital One and Rob Gronkowski to share some #GRONKonomics saving tips. Gronk got a lot of press recently when he revealed in his book that despite coming across as a (loveable) goofball, he hasn’t spent a dime of his football salary and is actually extremely financially savvy.
I wanted to tie in his saving tips with healthy living because I know it can seem that eating clean, whole foods regularly and belonging to a gym or fitness studio can at times feel impossible without a six-figure income. Trust me, I know that struggle all too well. A trip to Whole Foods to buy all-organic groceries for just a couple days can run me more than my monthly phone bill sometimes. COME ON!! I bet we’d all love to have a pantry and refrigerator stocked full of organic, locally sourced, non-GMO foods, but (especially depending on where we live), that can be unrealistic to accomplish all at once. Let’s take the first #GRONKonomics tip and apply it to cleaning up the food quality of your kitchen: 
You don’t need to throw out everything and start from scratch. Start with small goals and changes! And remember, organic is not always synonymous with “good for you,” just like food science is not always the big bad scary thing it’s often made out to be. You’re not going to get cancer if the apple you ate for breakfast isn’t organically grown. I promise. However, if the bulk of your kitchen is highly processed, pre-packaged food-like products, you’re setting yourself up for health issues. That, too, I promise.
If you want to start cleaning up your kitchen, here’s where I’d start.
1. Beef
I’m not just jumping on the bandwagon because of the recent news claiming bacon gives you cancer. Cows are big business. The more cows, the more dairy and the more beef. To meet high demand, some factory farms inject the animals with growth hormones (rBGH) and feed them (genetically modified) corn to help them reach large sizes as fast as possible. If beef is a big part of your diet, it’s worth spending the extra money on high-qualify, grass-fed meat.
2. Produce with edible skin that routinely tests high in harmful pesticide levels.
Have you heard of the dirty dozen? It’s a (somewhat subjective) list of produce that is often recommended to buy organic for a few reasons, but mainly because non-organic crops are typically sprayed heavily with harmful pesticides (emphasis on “harmful”—organic crops are often treated, too, just with different agents). Everyone’s “dirty dozen” list seems to be a little different when you look into it, and I’m not expert enough to discern, so I’ll just list a few that continually come up:
- Apples
- Peaches & nectarines
- Celery
- White potatoes
- Spinach
- Sweet bell pepper
- Cucumbers
- Grapes
When prioritizing what produce to buy organic, I think about if I’m eating the outside layer of it. Notice that all the fruits and veggies on that list have edible skin, and skin is the first point of contact with topical sprays. On the other hand, with, say, avocados, you’re removing that tough outside skin before eating.
3. Whole grains
I include grains on the list for two reasons. First, you typically buy grains (think rice, flour, etc.) in bulk, so it’s an economical investment. That big bag of organic brown rice will last for weeks in your pantry, unlike produce, which can feel like a total wallet drain if it goes bad before eating. Second reason is because grains are, like beef, BIG business and produced in mass. High demand = enter the genetic modification, pesticides and harmless chemicals to increase supply. It’s worth paying a little more for quality. 
Capital One Bank emphasizes helping individuals get more out of their savings. Last time I walked by one of their Capital One Cafes I saw a board with a list of free educational events they were putting on about smart saving and a bunch of other financial topics. Joe and I both looked at each other and were like “Umm … considering the state of our savings accounts we should probably go to every single one of these” (haha).
360 Savings accounts require no fees, no minimums and provide competitive interest rates. You can visit any of the three Capital One Cafe locations in Boston to get more info or visit www.CapitalOne360.com. In addition, you can follow Capital One on Facebook & Twitter and get all of Gronk’s #GRONKonomics tips by following his Facebook page and Twitter account as well. I’m sure some of you hardcore Bostonians already follow him though … 🙂
Food industry experts, RDs and fellow health aficionados — I want to hear your thoughts! What three items would you put at the top of your buy-organic list? Or do you not prioritize buying organic when creating a healthier kitchen? I want to hear from you!
Hey there! I'm Nicole, a group fitness instructor, healthy lifestyle blogger (you probably figured that one out by now) and Certified Personal Trainer living in Boston, MA.
First off, I love love LOVE the title image of this post for some reason. It’s so clean with a huge pop of color. Awesome! And those spinach leaves look perfect.
Second, what an interesting partnership! Haha. I’m not big into buying organic anything really… at least not at this point in my life. It’s more about finances than anything else though, so if I had all the money in the world, I’d definitely be buying organic produce, eggs, milk, and fish.
One thing I DO spend good money on (albeit a rare occasion) is grass fed, grass FINISHED beef for special occasions. I make filet mignon at home for my boyfriend and me sometimes and I’ll get the good stuff then. Otherwise, if I’m using ground beef, I just get the 93% lean and call it a day.
I usually consider the dirty dozen when buying produce. I always buy spinach, apples, and potatoes as organic. Bananas, avocados, and sweet potatoes I usually don’t bother with organic. The only exception to this is sweet peppers as 1) they are hard to find organically grown. The only store that carries them is Whole Foods and 2) they cost like 3 times as much. Another thought for me is that I save a lot of money buying things in bulk at Costco. They have organic spinach, organic quinoa, and organic frozen berries WAAYYYY cheaper than any where else.
Love these swaps. I am in the same boat when it comes to any type of meat (or fish – I go wild), produce with edible skin, and pantry items like coconut oil and honey. My nutrition clients always worry they have to start buying everything organic, but I tend to just go with the basics!
Great information! Thank you:)…. I am not a Pats fan (Cincinnati fan to the bone) but Gronk seems to be an awesome person and that is great!
I do ag econ research, and I think your list looks pretty reasonable. People can get a little extreme on food issues without having a really solid understanding of what, exactly, they’re so vehemently opposing; but there are crops for which organics are likely safer and moderately higher in nutrition (eg grains – the NY Times did a great article on the history of wheat engineering in the US recently). And, you know, you work with what you’ve got in terms of budget. If you’re looking for impartial, thoughtful digestion of research on organics and GMOs, this blog is actually really accessible, even if you’re not an ag/nutrition nerd. http://usfoodpolicy.blogspot.com/
Great and helpful post! I usually buy organic when it comes to the dirty dozen – cucumber, zucchini, apples etc. With avocados since the skin is removed anyway like you said, I dont always go organic. I also try to always buy organic olive or coconut oil and organic bread!
– Simone
I am Scottish…so no idea who this Gronk man is! sorry…..(although he looks quite hot!)
organic is quite readily available in my country but I live in Spain and here it is not really a ‘thing’ so much. When you can get it it is really expensive so I tend just to try to eat healthily but non organic….
I try to buy everything organic.I live in uk so organic just tastes better!Thank’s for sharing!
http://www.2activelab.com
This is a great post! I definitely try to buy ‘the dirty dozen’ organic along with grass fed beef, but I haven’t put much thought into organic whole grains so thanks for sharing! It’s worth every penny for me to know what I’m putting into my body, but I understand that for some people buying organic can sometimes break the bank.
I love it! That title vegetables looks great. I am going to start buying dirty dozen. Thanks for sharing this wonderful post.