Every year the EWG publishes it’s shopper’s guide to pesticides. This list helps the “should-I-spend-the-extra-money-to-buy-this-organic” decision making process easier. Below is a list of the highest pesticide produce, “the dirty dozen” (when you can, buy these organic) and the cleanest produce “the clean 15″ (OK to save your money and buy conventional). Thank you EWG for doing the research and organizing this list!
DIRTY DOZEN (buy these organic)
- Celery
- Peaches
- Strawberries
- Apples
- Blueberries
- Nectarines
- Bell Peppers
- Spinach
- Kale
- Cherries
- Potatoes
- Grapes (Imported)
CLEAN 15 (Lowest in Pesticides)
- Onions
- Avocado
- Sweet Corn
- Pineapple
- Mangos
- Sweet Peas
- Asparagus
- Kiwi
- Cabbage
- Eggplant
- Cantaloupe
- Watermelon
- Grapefruit
- Sweet Potato
- Honeydew Melon
My readers are thoughtful and educated and might be thinking: “better to always buy organic and support organic farmers-regardless of the produce” or “perhaps we should place more emphasis on buying local rather than organic produce shipped from Mexico”. These are valid concerns and I look forward to having these discussions with you. In the meantime, use this list to make informed, produce-buying, choices.
