The Dirty Dozen and The Clean Fifteen
The Environmental Working Group published their annual produce list of the 12 vegetables and fruits having the highest pesticide levels in 2011. These are ones that you should avoid or try to buy organic.
If you have no choice but non-organic, you should use a product to clean off most of the residues and wax from your produce. Cleaning fruits and vegetables with a produce wash, like Fit, if used properly “removes 98% more pesticides and wax than water alone” as stated on the bottle.
The following are the fruits and vegetables that made the “Dirty Dozen list”.
1. Apples
2. Celery
3. Strawberries
4. Peaches
5. Spinach
6. Nectarines (imported)
7. Grapes (imported)
8. Sweet bell peppers
9. Potatoes
10. Blueberries (domestic)
11. Lettuce
12. Kale/collard greens
The good news is that they also have a “Clean Fifteen” list that you can choose from with confidence.
1. Onions
2. Sweet corn
3. Pineapples
4. Avocado
5. Asparagus
6. Sweet peas
7. Mangoes
8. Eggplants
9. Cantaloupe (domestic)
10. Kiwi
11. Cabbage
12. Watermelon
13. Sweet potatoes
14. Grapefruit
15. Mushrooms
Try to make these your staples if you aren’t able to afford the organic choices. and maybe consider raising some of your own organic vegetables if you have even a little land. Thank goodness there is much more organically grown produce now, though at a higher price for those who live on zero lot lines.
As we all know farming has changed in the last couple of decades; what with GMOs, and heavy use of pesticides and weed killers, our produce is not the pristine quality available to older generations. Our beef and poultry are raised with hormones and antibiotics and housed in cramped and sometimes unthinkable quarters, rather than allowed to roam free like they were in former days.
Let’s do all we can to eat right and feed our children the best of what is available. We need to do everything within our power to increase our health and fitness as well as our family’s and enjoy our blessings to the fullest, especially those precious grandchildren.
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