A reader and I got to talking last weekend about the high cost of eating organic. While proponents of organic will explain that the cost of conventional foods are higher than their price tags make it seem (in terms of cost to your health, the environment, etc.), that doesn’t ease the burden of the cost of organic foods on consumers in the here and now.

But there has to be a way to eat healthfully and thriftily, right?

As a proponent of the mantra “all things in moderation,” I think one good strategy is to spend your food dollar more wisely by picking and choosing the organic products you buy. You don’t have to go all-organic overnight — especially if money is an issue. The Environmental Working Group has produced a guide called Pesticides in Produce that lists the 12 fruits and vegetables with the most and least pesticides. Choosing to go organic for those with the most pesticides will decrease your exposure exponentially — something that is especially important for kids.

body+soul magazine also has an article about eating organic in its March 2007 issue suggesting that buying organic chocolate, peanuts, and soy will also drastically limit your intake of pesticides.

Next, choosing where you buy your organic goodies may also have an effect on your grocery budget. Big-box stores like Walmart and Costco have begun introducing more organic items into their product lines and Super Target recently announced that they are now a “certified organic produce retailer.”

But when it comes to discount organics, the key words are buyer beware. Walmart has come under fire recently both for their new house brand of organic milk and for allegedly mislabeling non-organic products as organic. Organic advocate groups claim that stores like Walmart are “diluting” organics by watering down the standards for organic products. For example, Walmart brand of organic milk (which comes from the same supplier as Safeway, Costco, Target and Wild Oats store brands of organic milk) is produced at a factory farm where animals have no access to the outdoors and are fed a diet of grain rather than grass.

So, perhaps the best place to search for deals on organic foods is in your own local community. LocalHarvest.org offers a comprehensive, searchable list of local farmers’ markets and Community Supported Agriculture programs, which allow consumers to purchase a “share” of a farm’s produce for an entire season. Eatwild.com is a directory of more than 800 pasture-based farms selling grass-fed meat, eggs, poultry, and dairy products in all 50 states.

Finally, consider this: Americans today spend only one-tenth of their household income on food, compared to spending one-fifth in the 1950s. Spending a little more for organic isn’t something we have to do, but it’s a choice we can make to improve our quality of life.