Updated Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen

While we talked about seasonal eating here several times, including the Spring Seasonal Eating List, the Summer Seasonal Eating List, and the Winter Seasonal Eating List (and yes, I was delinquent and somehow missed Fall last year), there's actually another factor to consider when buying produce.

From time to time the EWG (Environmental Working Group) releases an update to their "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean Fifteen" Shopper's Guides to Consumer Pesticide Exposure. As you probably know, a lot of food grown in the US is sprayed with pesticides, which are chemicals to protect them from bugs. We can try to wash these chemicals off our food before we eat it, but sometimes it's not that simple. EWG's press release on the latest list mention a concern for young children and pesticides effects on them at critical developmental stages. My own concern is regarding the build up over time of these chemicals in your system; your body can only clear out so much. Again EWG's release mentions an association between pesticides and "neurological deficits, ADHD, endocrine system disruption, and cancer."

It's unfortunate that this even has to be taken into consideration - although there are probably plenty of people who don't consider it at all. And I'd surely hope this issue wouldn't turn anyone away from eating produce since it can provide so many nutritional benefits.

Buy these organic if they're imported.
image from Wikimedia Commons

So. What's on the list?

Dirty Dozen:
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

Now all these above items the EWG is recommending you buy organic whenever possible because these foods have been found to be contaminated with pesticides the most. Note that most of the produce tested  is washed and peeled before tested to reflect the most likely amounts of pesticide in the food when people would eat it.

And yes, buying organic is more expensive. But I decided in the past couple of years it is worth it. If I could pay just a little more now and reduce my chances of health problems down the line, I'm going to do it. Americans are willing to spend a smaller percentage of their earnings on food compared to many other countries. I think I learned that from Michael Pollan. And that could be a whole other memo on it's own, but for now, I'll just say we should value our health more than that.

You'll notice that everything on the Dirty Dozen list is lacking a hard, inedible outside. This thinner skin allows chemicals to seep into the produce. If you wanted to extend your organic purchasing past this list, you could make a rule that organic could be skipped on anything that has a hard outer structure or at least an outside you don't eat, like a cantaloupe or a pineapple.

In fact, that leads me to....

These can be bought non-organic.
image from Wikimedia Commons

Clean Fifteen:
1. Onions
2. Corn
3. Pineapple
4. Avocado
5. Asparagus
6. Sweet Peas
7. Mango
8. Eggplant
9. Cantaloupe (domestic)
10. Kiwi
11. Cabbage
12. Watermelon
13. Sweet potatoes
14. Grapefruit
15. Mushrooms

These were all found to be lowest in pesticides. And yes, the order does have meaning - the top slots are for the worst offenders and best bets on their respective lists.

So there you go.

As I mentioned both lists are courtesy of the EWG and their research. Feel free to read the press release I mentioned. Visit the EWG Shopper's Guide website and you can even print out a guide to take with you shopping. That guide is in pdf form and has a QR code on it that you can scan with your smart phone to get the info on your phone.

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