Many people struggle with decisions about buying organic food. Do the benefits justify the cost, especially when household incomes are tight? Organic foods do cost more and there never seems to be enough money to go around. What should a parent to do?

First: Make informed choices. Know what's going on.

Thankfully, the USDA tests produce for food safety, particularly for pesticide residues. Unfortunately, it releases the information piecemeal, making it hard for regular consumers to assimilate and news organizations to responsibly report. Now enter, the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit consumer advocate group based in Washington, DC.

Their chosen mission is to educate the public about the environmental and food safety hazards of modern living. They have aggregated, compiled, organized and digested USDA test data from the last several years and compiled a list of the 48 most common fruits and vegetables consumed in the USA and their 'residue scores.'

Essentially the list provides a ranked report of pesticide residue test results by fruit or vegetable. The results are disconcerting.

As an example, their Executive Summary reveals that in the 2013 USDA testing of 3,015 produce samples no fewer than 165 different pesticides were discovered among the nearly 2/3rds of samples testing positive for pesticide residues. Hands down, fresh fruit was the worst: 99 percent of apple samples, 98 percent of peaches, and 97 percent of nectarines tested positive for at least one pesticide residue. One grape sample and one sweet bell pepper sample both contained 15 different pesticides.

You can read their executive summary and their 'residue score' list online.

Second: Develop a strategy.

Engage family members with the information you have discovered. Decide what you'd like to do and lobby for it. Build a consensus. Changing diets and family priorities is best done when the entire family is on board.

Perhaps you only want or can only afford to start replacing the top 10 produce items your family enjoys with organic produce. Perhaps you want to switch to organic for the top 10 'dirtiest' items. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps...

Third: Consider a garden.

Gardens come in all shapes and sizes. One simple container tomato plant can produce up to 15 pounds of tomatoes. A 16' x 24' garden (the size of a very large living room) can grow an amazing quantity of several vegetables. A quarter acre sized garden is reported to be able to produce all the food a family needs. Buy the paperback The Backyard Homestead: Produce all the food you need on just a quarter acre! by Storey Publishing. ($13.60, Amazon.)

Fourth: Consider a small orchard.

Wasn't it maddening that the 'dirtiest' items were fresh fruits? If you have some yard space, plant a few fruit trees. If you can't agree on which cultivars to plant, or have very limited space, plant a 'postage stamp orchard' only requiring a 10' x 20' space but giving you 2 varieties of apples, plus peaches, pears, cherries and plums or multiple varieties of the same fruit. Don't even have that much space? You can plant a '4 in 1' or '5 in 1' tree sometimes called 'fruit cocktail' or 'fruit salad' trees. One small grafted dwarf tree can provide 4, 5 or even 6 different kinds of fruit. (Always be sure to check the growing zone for anything you wish to order.)

Do you prefer berries instead of fruits? There are similar berry offers by reputable plant nurseries if you look online.

Berries, depending on the kind and variety, sometimes produce the first year, but most will produce in years 2-3. Fruit trees, purchased at 3-4 feet in height, usually produce in years 3-4. Buy local, and find 8-10 foot trees, and you can have fruit the very next summer in most cases. Of course more mature plants will offer higher yields.

Fifth. Be deliberate and take your time.

Unless you can afford to make all the changes you may desire instantly, make a plan and work it, starting small and measuring your progress. Don't try to do everything all at once, especially with the gardening. Sustained partial or incremental solutions will be more healthful and beneficial than abandoned full solutions.

TIP. Make sure your green thumb follows directions.

Don't follow my mistakes. My first few years of gardening I always 'fudged' plant spacing. What I got was 'too crowded to weed' gardens. And if you fudge on fruit bush/tree planting, it's an invitation for disease.

Updated 1/10/16