Those little stickers that come on all of our produce do more than tell the clerk how much to charge you: they are an indicator of the origins of you food. It's easy to decipher, and all you have to remember is three numbers.
Any number beginning with a 4 is a food that has been conventionally grown.
If eating organic is important to you, then you will want a produce sticker with a number starting with a 9.
The last number will probably be a number you won't see for quite some time and that's the number 8, meant for any GMO food. When the PLU system for produce was designed they were thinking that the retailer would want to know the differences in organic, conventional and GMO foods. Problem is, labeling GMO foods is optional and companies know that the general populous won't buy foods if they are marked GMO - why do you think they fight so hard against any bill that tries to pass labeling. I am confident however, that some day this will also be main stream and we will see the number 8 on some of our produce.
So, to sum up:
Numbers beginning with a 4 are Conventionally Grown
9 are Organically Grown
8 are GMO - Genetically Modified
