I need some help regarding a diet for my new lovebird

[Chief]

I purchased a hand tame, hand raised and fed about 3 month year old lovebird from a reputable and trusted over the years family owned local pet shop.
I bought a bag of LM Animal Farms® Vita-Vittles® Cockatiel Diet and have been feeding him only this for the past 3 days that I got him. Also millet and cuddle bone.
I will be purchasing pellets for him tomorrow. I've read that birds should have organic/variable diet of little seeds and fruits, most of pellets & veggies. However, we don't buy organic veggies/fruits. My mom and I do the grocery shopping every week but for some reason my mom does not like organic fruits and veggies and plus they cost more. I don't have any money (need a job).

We have 5 american budgies and 1 english budgie and only feed them seeds. One 'keet we've had since 1996 and another since 1998. They seem healthy and my mom doesn't like to give fresh fruits and veggies to them. The best parakeet we've ever had was so friendly and tame and he died at age 19.

However, I'd like a balanced diet for my lovebird because I will be closer to him and just want to be safe.

I CANNOT feed him non-organic fruits and veggies, correct? The pesticides in them will harm him? And I hate that I use generic commercial store brand seeds..and probably will buy store brand pellets.

Are just pellets and some seeds okay for now?

Thanks for your time!

[Monica]

Either your budgies on an all seed diet get plenty of exercise to burn off the extra fat from the seeds, or they've got pretty good genes to be living longer than 6 years! The budgies should also be getting a variety of fresh foods along with their seeds.

Although organic is best, there is still a possibility of disease or bacteria on the plants found in the dirt or perhaps the fertilizer. The best you can do is get what you can, some fresh, some frozen, none canned, and work with what you've got. It's best if you can soak any fresh produce in some ACV (Apple Cider Viengar) or GSE (Grapefruit Seed Extract) water, or get some vegetable wash to use instead.

Land of Vos - Wingtips Articles - A Gift From Mother Nature
The Kitchen Physician Produce and Pesticides
Birds n Ways - Eclectus Diet - Eclectus Forum September 1997 Pet Birds, Pet Parrots, Exotic Birds
Bird Safe Fresh Foods & Toxic Food Lists + Sprouts

I've heard blanching the veggies can help keep them longer and kills bacteria, although I don't know the effectiveness of doing so. It's recommended to put veggies into bowling water for 30-40 seconds, then drain, and pour ice cold water over the veggies immediately after.

Cooks illustrated recently did a study comparing, washing with water, antimicrobial soap, veggie wash or white vinegar. They found that washing with a mix of 1 part white vinegar, 3 parts water, was better at removing bacterial than the other methods. They suggest that you fill a spritz bottle with white vinegar/water mix and spritz the veggie with it, then rinse with cold water. For things like broccoli with lots of grooves, they suggest dunking it in vinegar water, then rinsing it well.
Unfortunately they did not test to see how this affected the pesticides, which I care about more than the dirt, mom always said a little dirt is good for you.

Personally, I am pretty lazy I usually just wash it under cold running water and rub until all visible dirt/wax is gone. I figure that what ever is good enough for me to eat is probably good enough for the bird.