Dry or canned?

I buy dry organic beans at local natural foods stores that have bulk bins. They're all pretty similar in price and selection.

I buy canned from several sources - again pretty similar in price and quality - tho sometimes different in selection. Walmart, Trader Joe's and Aldi are my grocery stores here.

Thanks Carol but I'm looking for dry.

No natural food stores here with bulk bins either

Walmart.com sells & ships organic dry beans - kinda pricey, IMO. I think buying online rather than in person is bound to be pricier, tho.

Amazon.com charges even more than Walmart for the same brand (Food to Live), and has a brand called Yupik that isn't so expensive...

I just used the keywords 'organic dry beans'

Not sure how their prices compare, but nuts.com has organic dry beans and other good stuff.

I buy dry beans from Rancho Gordo.

Amazon also has Mulberry Lane and Hunza, which I've used and liked, and Palouse, who don't have a large variety but are good.

Thank you all! I am familiar with Rancho Gordo but have never ordered from them. I thought I might order some specialty beans there but look for the cheapest everyday kind of beans elsewhere.

The best deals for organic are some food cooperatives that ship. I don't have links but one in Michigan and another PNWest i've read about. Cutting out BigAg and BigGrocery. They buy bulk and re-package in brown paper sacks. All pantry staples. Best prices will always be in bulk purchasing.

Most organic growers focus on heirloom varieties that are more expensive to grow. My first choice would be NYState grown organic sold at my local co-op and at farmers markets.

But, dried beans have very little pesticide residue if any. It is all in the shell that is removed. I'm not 100% organic. Certain foods and produce have natural resistance like garlic and peeled skins like winter squashes, avocados. I grow delicata but would only buy organic.--skin is thin and edible. I grow string beans but would only buy organic. Heavily sprayed conventionally grown, etc. Pretty much agree with this list, HERE Exception is other issues in processing like sesame seeds. Lots of re-calls and recently found a chemical additive to prevent spoilage.

My bulk is from Poulse and RanchoGordo bean club for variety. Palouse has more varieties now. Wild rice from Canada sold locally. Amazon has Palouse but i just purchase direct from them. It has been 6-7 years since i did the research so i would change no problem if another suppier/farm, especially NYState organic, offered more variety and bulk prices.

We have been eating less animal proteins and seafood for a while Much smaller portions. The extra cost for good grains and beans is minimal compared to rising food costs in the meat dept.

I make a mixed grain pot every week and pick a bean or two to soak and cook in another pot. 3-4 bucks for 8-10 servings.

The main things that you need buy organic are certain fresh vegetables, I think. I've read that it's very important to buy organic celery, and I use a lot of that. I would think that lettuce, peppers, and broccoli should be organic, and maybe cabbage, although the outer leaves are usually discarded, although I use as many of them as possible.

What I grow is not technically organic because I use some fertilizers that are not organic, but I do not use any pesticides, and that's what I consider the main problem.

Okay this has been really interesting so I'm not going to seek out the organic beans. Thank you for helping me get educated here.

And sleevendog, that pot of grains and beans looks wonderful. What's in it?

Lars, at my age I've started to relax my organic requirements. I rarely find decent organic celery, so often throw caution to the wind and buy the other stuff. Cest la vie!

Judi, as long as you wash your non-organic celery well, I think you should be okay, especially at your (or my) age. It's a bit more difficult to wash broccoli, but I guess soaking it in cold water before cooking it should be sufficient.

Celery has a cell structure like a sponge. A couple years ago it was near the top of the DirtyDozen list tested. 18+ pesticides found after washing.

Before testing, the USDA processes each piece of fruit or vegetable in the same way people tend to do at home. For example, those with inedible peels are peeled, and those with edible peels are rinsed under cold water and drained before they are tested. Therefore, the USDA test results are a good indication of consumers’ likely exposure. Unprocessed produce tends to have higher concentrations of pesticides, as shown by California Department of Pesticide Regulation test results.

Cabages, brussels, cauliflower, broccoli, eggplant have been on the Clean15Plus list for a while. Though recently found a pesticide on these crops that are affecting the bee population---especially eggplant.

About 86% of cabbages sampled had no detectable pesticide residues, and only 0.3% showed more than one kind of pesticide (6, 16).

Since cabbage produces compounds called glucosinolates that deter harmful insects, this cruciferous vegetable requires less spraying.

This relates to the dried beans i mentioned about shelling vs whole pods consumed...

About 80% of the frozen sweet peas sampled had no detectable pesticide residues (6, 23).

Snap peas, however, didn’t score as well. Snap peas grown in the US ranked as the 20th cleanest vegetable, while imported snap peas ranked as the 14th most pesticide-contaminated vegetable (4).

These poorer scores for snap peas are partly due to testing the whole pod — as snap peas are often eaten with the pod. On the other hand, sweet peas were tested after shelling. The pod can be directly exposed to pesticides and is thus likelier to be contaminated

i'll post the links...

The DirtyDozen-Clean 15 has been around for about 20 years now. Posted once a year.

the 2022 Dirty12-Clean15

These lists are to let consumers make their own decissions as to what risks they are willing to take.

I use a bit of unscented castile soap on hard shelled produce like avocados and watermelons. Good water rinse. Baking soda on a damp cloth for produce where the skins or non-peeled is consumed. Baking soda has a bit of a scubby texture. Baking soda in rinse water. Not a big stickler about it. Some produce is stored, then washed or rinsed just before cooking. Many vegetables store best unwashed until cooked like carrots. Carrots are another in-ground sponge. Often used as a crop to clean up fields loaded with heavy metals and pesticides in soil. Cabbage i just remove a couple of the outer 'travel' leaves sinse they are a bit ratty anyway.

I only purchase organic but still clean and rinse. 25 allowable sprays for organic vs 900 on the conventional farming list.

This is from 2018 but somewhat still stands today about the Clean15...

Healthline clean-15

Beans are easy to grow, if you have a little garden space. That's one way to guarantee organic beans.

dcarch

OK, is see there is still a window for me to recommend Eden Foods, which is located just up the road from me in MI. It's an older company, been around for ages (well, I recall them back in my youth and I've been around for ages so that's my reference point . . . ). Excellent product quality. Beans grown locally in MI, which is actually a bean growing powerhouse . . . (I know, who knew!) You can buy them at a lot of online health food outlets and the big river in South America site . . .

https://store.edenfoods.com/products/beans/dry-beans/

Michigan dry bean production