The Dirty Dozen & The Clean 15

I have had many conversations lately with people about how to go about starting to incorporate more organic produce into your life without breaking the bank. One thing I have to say is that from my experience and a lot of shopping you can find reasonably priced organic produce. And if you pay attention to sale prices you can even find them as low or even lower then conventional produce. Also note that for example the three pack of romaine lettuce hearts and many of the prewashed lettuce packages are the exact same price as the conventional so you can easily start to incorporate more organic produce onto your dinner table.

However, I know there are times when you need to make some decisions. The Environmental Working Group has analyzed data from the USDA and the FDA where close to 40,000 tests were performed to determine the amount of pesticides in fruits and vegetables that you buy every day. The Environmental Working Group compiled a list of forty-five produce items listed in order from worst (highest pesticide load = dirtiest) to best (lowest pesticide load = cleanest).

Below I am going to list the Dirty Dozen which is the top 12 items from that list that you should always try to purchase organic if possible due to the fact that they are the highest in pesticide levels. I am also going to be posting the Cleanest Fifteen which are the top 15 of the cleanest lowest pesticide level foods. You can go to http://www.foodnews.org/ if you are interested in seeing the entire list. I will probably post the entire list later in the week and you can have an idea where to start when making a decision in the supermarkets.

Dirty Dozen

1. Peaches
2. Apples
3. Sweet Bell Peppers
4. Celery
5. Nectarines
6. Strawberries
7. Cherries
8. Lettuce
9. Imported Grapes
10. Pears
11. Spinach
12. Potatoes


Clean 15

1. Onions
2. Avocado
3. Sweet Corn
4. Pineapple
5. Mango
6. Asparagus
7. Sweet Peas
8. Kiwi
9. Cabbage
10. Eggplant
11. Papaya
12. Watermelon
13. Broccoli
14. Tomato
15. Sweet Potato


Print out and take with you to the markets and you will be able to make more informed choices about which produce to purchase Organic or which you can get the conventional products.