Ever since I had my daughter 16 months ago, I’ve been big on buying organic produce. With cancer so prevalent this day in age, I want to do whatever I can to keep my family as healthy as possible. Reducing the intake of pesticides is one easy way that I know how.
As a frugal mom, it can be hard to buy an organic carton of strawberries for $4 when the non-organic is screaming “$1.99!!” from that giant yellow sale sign one row over. There is no doubt that buying organic is more expensive, but we decided as a family to cut back in other areas so that we could splurge for organic produce. I also shop around; I know which stores offer what organic produce and who sells it the cheapest. Yes, I occasionally go to two or three stores in one week just to get the cheapest produce. And yes, it’s annoying; but I still feel that it’s worth it.
All that being said, some produce doesn’t need to be organic to be safe. To keep the cost down, I buy only those which are known to contain the most pesticides. To help you make the best decision, refer to the list of the “Dirty Dozen” (the top 12 foods containing the most pesticides) released by the Environmental Working Group. Those at the top are there mostly because they don’t have a protective skin barrier to keep out the pesticides (or you typically ingest their skin).
You can also download the top 12 foods to buy organic and the 15 cleanest foods from the Environmental Working Group here. Take it with you to the store so you’ll always remember what to splurge on.
Here’s the “Dirty Dozen” (the worst foods as the top):
1. Celery
2. Peaches
3. Strawberries
4. Apples
5. Domestic blueberries
6. Nectarines
7. Sweet bell peppers
8. Spinach
9. Cherries
10. Kale and collards
11. Potatoes
12. Imported grapes