Juan,
Thanks to the chemical sales man, Long ago ?Mom & Pop? had discovered that it is cheaper to apply ?veneno? to control pests and diseases than to lose their crop or settle for measly yields. They will cheat, lie, kill, borrow or steal to get a hold of these cheap chemicals to control phytosanitary conditions without even knowing what exactly they are applying or without a complete knowledge of how to apply it. The sad fact is that a lot of these products are banned in many countries but they are readily available here in the DR. Even on chemicals that are not banned, the allowed MRL (maximum residue level) and Harvest Intervals (a time period between the last chemical application and harvest) are not observed because government controls and consumer protection are non existent.
My point is whatever you do, don?t assume that all ?mom & pop? operations are that clean. The rule of thumb is to wash your fruit and veggies to death before consumption.
As for organics, make sure the produce you are buying is sourced from a farm that is certified by a reputable organic cerifier. By doing so, you will be encouraging more organic production and you would be doing your future generation and Mother Earth a great big favor. As far as significance of health benefits, I personally don't believe consumption of organic fruits and vegetables would extend my life expectancy even for another day.
By the way I did not know that co-operatives exist in the DR for vegetable and fruit growers. Do you know of any other than the rice growers?