Ideally we’d eat organic produce all the time, but we’d also go broke (and crazy trying to stick to it). The good news is that you can do yourself a huge favor by just avoiding some conventional produce, a.k.a. the DIRTY DOZEN. Because I’m still working on memorizing this list (and it also changes when the EWG issues its annual report), I specify in my recipes when a certain fruit or vegetable should ideally be organic. I hope it’s helpful to you, too, but don’t worry about following it exactly.
The Latest Dirty Dozen (2017)
- strawberries
- spinach
- nectarines
- apples
- peaches
- pears
- cherries
- grapes
- celery
- tomatoes
- sweet bell peppers
- potatoes
- hot peppers (lucky #13)
Local
Another thing to note is that local produce is almost always a better bet than conventional, even if it’s not organic. Since local produce isn’t traveling as far to get to you, it’s picked at peak ripeness and has retained more of its nutrients when it’s for sale. (And supporting local farmers is also better for the economy and environment!)
Clean 15
Back to the trusty EWG — they also have a list of the 15 fruits and vegetables that are found to have the least amount of pesticides, and therefore are safer to buy non-organic. But if you don’t want to try to remember two separate lists (unless I’m the only one who struggles with this?!), a general tip is that peels and thick skins act as natural barriers to pesticides.
Here are the Clean 15:
- sweet corn
- avocados
- pineapple
- cabbage
- onions
- frozen sweet peas
- papayas
- asparagus
- mangoes
- eggplant
- honeydew melon
- kiwi
- canteloupe
- cauliflower
- grapefruit
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