Avoid the Top 12 List of Fruits and Veggies Ridden With Pesticides
If organic produce was easily accessible and the same exact price as “conventional” produce that uses heavier duty pesticides – you’d pick organic, right?
But that’s not the current food system reality and there’s a good chance you live in a food desert or have been financially hurt and organic produce remains just above reach – like sour grapes.
Organic has real benefits in the realm of nutritional density, lack of transgenic material, and little to no toxic substances which can be carcinogenic and damaging to organs like the kidneys. Pesticide residues have shown up in people’s blood and urine again and again. Not to mention, psychotropic drugs used for mental disorders are now showing up in produce thanks to reclaimed waste water and using human sewage for fertilizer – in case you needed more reasons to pick organic. If you start eating organic for between a few days and a couple weeks – you may very well remove all traces of chemical pesticides, which have xenoestrogenic effects that can overthrow hormones.
See: 7 Ways to Drain Endocrine Disruptors from the Body
It would be a food utopia if people could eat food that is free of industrial chemicals and Monsanto creations that are gobbling up the food supply – but a vast many people simply can’t do it for all their meals. They must pick and choose…
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What to Do When You Can’t Afford Organic
Environmental Working Group releases their own picks for the year’s top foods containing the most pesticide residue. Even mainstream media has graciously hat tipped their “Dirty Dozen” list. It’s an easy-to-remember-list of the most pesticide-ridden foods that you can strive to buy organic instead.
Then, you can check out their “Clean 15” list on the items (non-GMO) that have the least amount of pesticides and decide if you would like to buy the non-organic brand or the organic version.
These lists take a lot of the guess work and guilt out of shopping when you live in an area where organic markets are barely there at all. And for those days when you just want to support a local farmer and enjoy produce that was just picked from a 10-mile radius at the farmers markets.
See: What to Eat When You’re Broke
EWG’s 2016Â Dirty Dozen
The lower the number the more pesticides they contain:
- Strawberries
- Apples
- Nectarines
- Peaches
- Celery
- Grapes
- Cherries
- Spinach
- Tomatoes
- Sweet Bell Peppers
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Cucumbers
View their full ranking of 50 items.
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Nectarines moved up the list this year and peaches were found to contain residues even after washing. The average potato – ranked at #15 for pesticide residue – contained more pesticides by weight than any other produce. Domestic blueberries were listed 4 rankings higher than those imported from outside the U.S.
“In California, where most U.S. strawberries are grown, each acre is treated with an astonishing 300 pounds of pesticides. More than 60 pounds are conventional chemicals that may leave post-harvest residues but most are fumigants—volatile poison gases that can drift into nearby schools and neighborhoods,” EWG wrote on EcoWatch.
Bad and Good News
This year’s update found a total of 146 different pesticides on fruit and vegetable samples tested in 2014 – residues that remain on produce even after items are washed and in some cases peeled.
Recent studies of insecticides used on some fruits and vegetables, including strawberries, found that children exposed to high levels were at greater risk of impaired intelligence and ADHD.Research also indicates that the levels of pesticides in the bodies of elementary school children peaked during the summer, when they ate the most fresh produce. But after just five days on an organic diet, they were essentially pesticide-free.
EWG’s 2016Â Clean 15
The lower the number, the less pesticide residue they contain:
- Avocados
- Sweet Corn (a small amount of sweet corn in the U.S. is GMO – stick to farmers markets)
- Pineapples
- Cabbage
- Sweet peas frozen
- Onions
- Asparagus
- Mangoes
- Papayas (don’t buy from Hawaii if you are avoiding GMOs)
- Kiwi
- Eggplant
- Honeydew melon
- Grapefruit
- Cantaloupe
- Cauliflower
EWG said that the Clean 15 had less than one percent of samples showing any detectable pesticides. No single fruit sample from the Clean Fifteen tested positive for more than four types of pesticides, and very few for more than one.
Sonya Lunder, EWG Senior Analyst, said:
You can feel confident that conventionally grown fruits and veggies on the Clean Fifteen list have very little pesticide contamination.
You can also get their free printable guides when you get the EWG newsletter. Find Your Local Fresh Food Source
Were you surprised by this list? Will it change the way you shop at the markets?
Sound off below and don’t forget to share!
Don’t forget to check out the surprising list of Top Nutrient Produce
List Of How To Store These Fruits And Veggies For Best Freshness
This article (Avoid the Top 12 List of Fruits and Veggies Ridden With Pesticides) can be republished with attribution to Heather Callaghan and Natural Blaze.com.
Heather Callaghan is an independent researcher, natural health blogger and food freedom activist. You can see her work at NaturalBlaze.com. Like at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
