We eat some serious fruits and vegetables around our house. They are served at every breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack. I try to purchase as much as possible from the farmer's market. However, I still find myself visiting the grocery store a few times a week.
The grocery store is often limited in organic foods. I was glad to find this 2011 Dirty Dozen list to reference. The EWG's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce identifies the fruits and vegetables that contain the most contamination from pesticide residues. Now I have a quick reference guide on which foods to skip if organic is unavailable and which foods I can save a bit of money on and purchase conventional.
I was shocked to see apples topped the dirty dozen list. Today I priced organic apples and there was NO price difference between most of the apple varieties.
Quick note: I always purchase organic corn as I am trying to stay away from GMOs and corn is a huge GMO crop.
EWG's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce
Dirty Dozen
Buy these organic
1
Apples
2
Celery
3
Strawberries
4
Peaches
5
Spinach
6
Nectarines
– imported
– imported
7
Grapes – imported
8
Sweet bell peppers
9
Potatoes
10
Blueberries
– domestic
– domestic
11
Lettuce
12
Kale/collard greens
Clean 15
Lowest in Pesticide
1
Onions
2
Sweet Corn
3
Pineapples
4
Avocado
5
Asparagus
6
Sweet peas
7
Mangoes
8
Eggplant
9
Cantaloupe
- domestic
- domestic
10
Kiwi
11
Cabbage
12
Watermelon
13
Sweet potatoes
14
Grapefruit
15
Mushrooms
Aww man, I can't believe apples tops the list. Great info as always! :)
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