The AFF Diet, Edition #2: Why organic?

I've cut out soy, gluten, and dairy. That pretty much eliminates abundant, cheap, quick, processed food found in traditional supermarkets and restaurants. That elimination also makes my food bill eat up a substantial fraction of my limited income. Why go organic too?

First thing's first. Organic food is grown without certain chemicals (mostly synthetic fertilizers and pesticides) that has been approved by the US government to carry a USDA Certified Organic sticker (1, 2). People have different reasons for going organic, but, in my reading, the Soil Association's 5 reasons for organic foods sums the reasons up well: concerns about health, animals, and the environment (3). While organizations have claimed that organic food is more nutritious than regular food (4), such claims took a hit when CNN covered a study arguing otherwise. None the less, the demand for organic food has increased over the past several years.

The reason I am choosing organic food is simple and has nothing to do with nutrition. While it would be nice to be getting %50 more nutrients for every apple that I eat, I am most concerned with what I don't get with organic food. I don't want to eat the chemicals used on regular food, or the genetically-modified foods unregulated in regular food. While the chemical/GMO junk may come in minute quantities, my body has been trying to get rid of that stuff for the past 12-13 years, and I don't need to be processing it.