Ask Dr. Etingin: Local markets and pesticides … Feta vs. blue cheese

Q: Do I need to worry about pesticides when I shop at a local farmer’s market?

A: There are several benefits to shopping at a local farmer’s market, but lack of pesticides is not one of them. First, the food is freshest because it travels the least distance after being picked. Shorter distances also mean a lower carbon footprint, and possibly more affordable pricing due to fewer businesses involved. Locally sourced produce is also more likely to be non-genetically modified.

For pesticide-free produce, choose organic, whether locally or nationally grown. But with non-organic produce, you should take the same precautions against pesticides at a local farmer’s market as you would take when buying from a grocery store. Local farms, whether large or small, are allowed to use the same types of pesticides as national farms, and all farms are required to follow the same U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines with regard to pesticides, whether they are local or national.

Also, many people touched that produce before it reached its final place on the farmer’s market food stand, so always rinse fruits and vegetables before cooking or eating them (do not use soap). However, don’t wash them until you’re ready to consume them, as washing starts the biodegrading process.

Q: Which is healthier, feta cheese or blue cheese?

A: People often think feta cheese—which is made from sheep’s milk or from a mixture of sheep and goat’s milk—is healthier than blue cheese, which is made from cow’s milk, sheep’s milk or goat’s milk and the mold penicillium—because it’s lower in calories. But calories don’t tell the whole story. Here’s a deeper look at the benefits of each in a 1 oz. (28 gram [g]) serving based on an analysis by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service.

Feta cheese is lower in total calories—75 vs. 100 for blue, and has a higher water content: 55 percent vs. 42 percent. It’s lower in total fat: 6 g vs. 8 g for blue, and also in saturated fat: feta has 4.2 g vs. 5.3 g for blue. It’s lower in sodium: 316 milligrams (mg) vs. 396 mg for blue, and has slightly more thiamin and riboflavin (vitamins B1 and B2, respectively).

Blue cheese has more protein: 6 g vs. 4 g for feta. It has less cholesterol: 21 mg in blue vs. 25 mg in feta. You’ll get more calcium from blue: 150 mg vs. 140 mg from feta, and more potassium: 73 mg vs. 18 mg for feta; and it has almost twice the vitamin A: 204 international units (IU) compared with 127 IU for feta. They both have zero sugar and trans fat but just 0.3 mg of niacin (vitamin B3). Neither has any dietary fiber. But they’re both gluten free and all natural.

The USDA recommends that people on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet eat just 1½ ounces of cheese daily, in low-fat or fat-free versions, so consider cheese more of a condiment than a food. To keep within suggested limits, try sprinkling it as a topping—over a salad, for example.

– Orli R. Etingin, M.D.

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