While waiting in a drive-thru, many people don’t consider the bad choices they are making when it comes to eating underpriced, bad quality foods on an everyday basis. If they made the decision to eat organic foods, the benefits are priceless.

“Sales of organic food have been rising steadily over the past decade, reaching almost $30 billion in 2011, or 4.2 percent of all U.S. food and beverage sales,” according to the Organic Trade Association in an article in The Wall Street Journal.

Living in a world of fast food chains, many Americans are weighed down with over-processed and chemical-infused foods that can be harmful to their bodies; they don’t question the obvious before they eat: ‘Where did my food come and how did it get here?’ On top of that, many people don’t even realize the advantages of eating organic food.

One of the benefits that comes from eating organic fruits and vegetables is the amount of antioxidants available. According to the American Chemical Society, fruits and vegetables grown organically have more cancer-fighting antioxidants than those that are grown conventionally. And when you don’t have enough antioxidants, bacteria can creep into your body and leave you vulnerable to sickness.

If the lack of nutritional value doesn’t convince you to eat organic, then the abundance of pesticides should. Many of the conventionally grown fruits and vegetables contain pesticides that not only kill the soil but leave an unnatural residue on produce left for buyers to ingest.

Sure you’re thinking about the hefty price tag on that container of blueberries, but buying produce that is in season can make a tremendous difference. When it’s winter, don’t spend the additional $5 on berries when pomegranates and persimmons are in season for a much more affordable price. It’s a matter of shopping smart.

We’ve all heard the saying “You are what you eat.” Do you really want to be that huge, overdeveloped tomato that’ll just create more challenges in the future? No, of course not; so put down that apple Safeway claims to be healthy just because it’s a ripe fruit and pick up something that is actually organic.

Not only will you benefit but our environment will benefit. When organic produce is grown there is less fertilizer run-off killing aquatic life, less toxic residue in the ecosystem and fewer pesticide mutations overpowering our chemicals, according to an article from Greening Princeton.

We all need to eat organic so we know where our food is coming from, we don’t sabotage our body with unknown pesticides and we contribute to saving our diminishing environment.